Good and Evil, Chapter 83: The Truth Comes to Light

To make people obey the law, the law must first be made known to all.

After a detailed interrogation of Xie Xintong and a full reconstruction of how she had killed four people over the course of six years, Xu Lang and Ning Yanran then carried out a surprise questioning of Xie Xintong’s mother, Xiang Shuifeng.

At first, Xiang Shuifeng tried to deny everything. She refused, even to the point of death, to admit that she had taken part in murdering people and extorting money from them. But once Xu Lang showed her Xie Xintong’s confession, Xiang Shuifeng knew there was no longer any way to conceal the truth, and she had no choice but to tell how she had assisted Xie Xintong in the killings.

Xiang Shuifeng’s statement differed little from Xie Xintong’s, save for a few details. There is no need to dwell on those here.

After the two interrogations were over, Xu Lang and Ning Yanran came out of the interrogation room with grave expressions. The case was indeed not complicated; if one paid close attention, the flaws in the mother and daughter’s story were easy to uncover. Yet for the past six years, no one had ever suspected them. That was what made it so unbelievable.

As soon as the questioning ended, Ning Yanran reported the matter to Lu Ye. Upon hearing it, Lu Ye immediately ordered her to investigate thoroughly and to ensure that the four dead received justice.

After the call, Ning Yanran went at once to Dou Xihua, the chief of the police station in Fangxi County, and told him to take men and go with Li Lei to search Xiang Shuifeng’s home, because her confession mentioned that some rat poison was still there. That poison was crucial evidence and had to be found immediately. She also instructed them to contact the families of the other three victims. She needed to speak with them before carrying out an exhumation.

The only comfort Xu Lang and Ning Yanran found in the case was that after their deaths, Xie Ruiyi, Li Jiazhi, and Fang Honglang had not been cremated. They had been buried according to rural custom. Otherwise, it would have been extremely difficult to determine how the three men had died and to convict Xie Xintong and Xiang Shuifeng. After all, no body meant no evidence, and a conviction in court could not rest on nothing but the two women’s confessions.

By the time everything had been arranged, night had already fallen, and the day had slipped away. By the time Li Lei and the others reached Xiejia Valley Village to search Xiang Shuifeng’s house, Zhao Hua and the others had returned.

From Zhao Hua’s visits to the villagers of Zhangjiatun and Xiejia Valley Village, they learned that people in both villages all said Xie Xintong was a woman of unusually hard fate, born with the destiny of bringing ruin to her husband. Naturally, these were the old people’s stories; many of the younger villagers took such things with skepticism. What most of them suspected was that the deaths of Xie Xintong’s several husbands were connected to her in some way, though without hard proof no one dared say so outright. After all, words can be fearsome.

In truth, many villagers suspected that Xie Xintong had something to do with the deaths of her husbands not only because the four victims had died so abruptly and suspiciously, but also because of the life she and Xiang Shuifeng lived after the husbands died. According to the villagers of Xiejia Valley, after each marriage ended in a husband’s sudden death, Xie Xintong and Xiang Shuifeng lived far more lavishly than the others. After graduating from school, Xie Xintong scarcely ever worked the fields, nor did she go to the county seat or the city to find a job. Instead, she stayed at home every day like some sheltered young lady from a wealthy household. That was rare in the countryside, where people lived by tending crops and laboring in the fields. A person who had no job, never went to work the land, and yet wore a different set of clothes every day, even if none of them were expensive brand-name garments, still aroused suspicion.

Over those six years, not only had Xie Xintong changed, Xiang Shuifeng had changed as well. In the past, Xiang Shuifeng had been one of the best workers in Xiejia Valley Village. She was meticulous and hardworking in the fields, better than some young men. So during the years when Xie Xintong was in school, the villagers would often ask Xiang Shuifeng for help during the busy farming season, of course paying her for it. But since Xie Xintong finished high school, Xiang Shuifeng had not let the land go barren, yet she was no longer as tireless as before. In recent years, the harvest from the few mu of land her family owned had fallen well below what it once had been. By rights, such a harvest should not have been enough to support two people for a year. And yet mother and daughter lived quite well, and whenever there was a wedding or funeral in the village, Xiang Shuifeng’s gifts were always generous. That, too, led many people to whisper behind their backs.

With the confessions of Xiang Shuifeng and Xie Xintong, together with the villagers’ testimony, the fact that the mother and daughter had been marrying men to swindle betrothal gifts and then murdering them was now fully established.

By then it was already past eight in the evening. Xu Lang and the others first ate dinner at a small restaurant beside the police station. When they finished and returned, Dou Xihua and the others had already come back from Xiejia Valley Village. Not only had they found the poison in Xiang Shuifeng’s home, they had also brought the families of the other three victims to the station.

When the victims’ families saw Xu Lang and the others, they looked uneasy. Ning Yanran took them into a conference room and carefully explained why they had been brought there, as well as the police’s request to exhume the bodies.

After hearing that their sons had not died in an accident, but had been poisoned to death by Xie Xintong, the three families were utterly stunned. Six people, twelve eyes, all revealed disbelief. Only when they saw the poison bottle placed on the table did they finally begin to believe it.

Shock quickly gave way to rage. They cursed Xie Xintong and Xiang Shuifeng in a torrent of abuse, calling them cold-blooded, snake-hearted monsters and worse besides. Xu Lang and Ning Yanran exchanged glances but did not stop them. Only after the six elders had vented their grief and fury did Xu Lang bring up the request for exhumation again.

At first, Xu Lang had thought that once they learned their sons had been murdered by Xie Xintong, they would agree to the exhumation. Unexpectedly, all three families refused. That surprised him greatly.

After a moment’s thought, Xu Lang understood the reason. From ancient times to the present, people had always held that the dead must be honored and left in peace. Once a person had died and been buried, their life was deemed complete, and their rest should not be disturbed. Once he understood this, Xu Lang explained the importance of the matter to them. Without seeing the bodies of the three victims, they could not determine the true cause of death, nor could they convict Xie Xintong and Xiang Shuifeng, nor could they give the three dead a just and clean name.

The families were all born and raised in the countryside. None of them had ever been to the city, at most only to the county seat. Their horizons were limited, their knowledge scant, and they knew nothing of the law. It was entirely natural that they would not agree to the exhumation. Moreover, they were no longer young, and their thinking was rather rigid and old-fashioned. Xu Lang and the others spent more than an hour persuading them, but they still would not consent. That put Xu Lang and the others in a difficult position. After all, exhumation required the families’ agreement. Of course, if they absolutely refused, the police could still carry it out by force. But although that would allow them to determine the true cause of death, it would surely unsettle the families and invite gossip, even blame, from villagers in several surrounding hamlets. That was not something Ning Yanran and the others wanted to see.

After another hour of stalemate, Xu Lang and the others, their throats dry from talking, stopped trying to persuade them. It was already very late, so Ning Yanran asked Dou Xihua to arrange accommodation for them at the guesthouse, and they would discuss everything in the morning.

Once that was done, Xu Lang and the others returned to the guesthouse as well.

Back at the guesthouse, Xu Lang used his key to open the door. Just as he was about to close it, he realized that Ning Yanran had not returned to her own room. Instead, she had followed him into his. Clearly, she had something to say.

Xu Lang did not refuse. He knew what Ning Yanran wanted to talk about: how to persuade the families of the three victims to agree to the exhumation.

Sure enough, once Ning Yanran had entered and sat down, she said irritably, “What kind of people are they? We only want to exhume the bodies so we can find out how their sons died and give them justice. I just don’t understand why they won’t agree.”

Hearing this, Xu Lang closed the door, gave a slight smile, then took the kettle into the bathroom, filled it with cold water, plugged it in, and only then sat down across from Ning Yanran. Smiling, he said, “You’re not from the countryside, and you’ve never lived there. Of course it doesn’t make sense to you. But they have their reasons.”

“Reasons? What reasons could there possibly be?” Ning Yanran curled her lip, unconvinced.

Xu Lang smiled and slowly explained, “Modern science only rose to prominence in the last hundred years or so, while the idea of geomancy has spread across the country for thousands of years. Over time, and through generations of word of mouth, people have become very particular about funerals and burials. They believe in geomancy. They think that once a person dies and is buried, the body must never be disturbed again. If it is, it will affect the fate of the family and descendants. So their refusal to permit exhumation is understandable.”

“That’s superstition. It’s ignorance. And it’s ridiculous,” Ning Yanran said, even angrier after hearing his explanation.

Seeing her like this, Xu Lang shook his head and continued, “You can’t put it quite that simply. I don’t believe in geomancy either, but they do. Since the belief has persisted for thousands of years, it must have some reason for its existence, even if I don’t know what that reason is. And as for science, yes, many things can now be explained by science. But you have to admit that there are still many things in this world science cannot explain. Another point is this: you may think many things can be explained scientifically, but some older people, especially rural elders, have their own views. You can’t force others to accept yours, can you?”

After hearing Xu Lang out, Ning Yanran thought carefully. Once she had weighed his words, she nodded, and much of the anger on her face faded. After all, what he said did make sense.

She looked at Xu Lang, who still wore a faint smile, and asked, “Then what do we do next?”

Xu Lang smiled and said, “Tomorrow, we take the families of the three victims to Xiejia Valley Village, find the village head and the village secretary, and speak to them directly. Let them talk to the families. I believe they’ll be able to persuade them.”

Hearing this, Ning Yanran’s eyes lit up at once. The gloom on her face was replaced by a bright, lovely smile, and she looked at Xu Lang with admiration. “Right. Why didn’t I think of that? Xu Lang, you really do have a way.”

Xu Lang took the praise without comment. He had heard such words far too many times over the years and was long since used to them. Looking at Ning Yanran, he asked, “Anything else?”

Ning Yanran was a little baffled by the question. After a pause, she shook her head reflexively. “No. Why?”

“If there’s nothing else, then you should go back to your own room. I’m going to wash up and sleep,” Xu Lang said flatly.

Hearing that, Ning Yanran rolled her eyes and said in exasperation, “What time is it, and you’re going to sleep already? Are you a pig?”

Xu Lang did not argue with her. He simply took out his phone, lit up the screen, and held it in front of her. “Look for yourself. What time is it?”

At first, Ning Yanran glanced at the phone carelessly. But when she saw that the time on the screen was eleven forty-eight at night, she suddenly screamed, “Ah! It’s already this late? No, I haven’t put on my face mask yet. I need to hurry back and do that.”

With that, she leaped to her feet and hurried out of Xu Lang’s room, rushing back to her own.

Watching her receding figure, Xu Lang could only shake his head helplessly. He sometimes felt that Ning Yanran really was like a child who had never grown up, not like a police officer at all, let alone a criminal investigator. But he did not say so aloud.

As Xu Lang withdrew his gaze and took back his phone, he happened to glance at the screen. His brow immediately furrowed. Then he turned to look in the direction Ning Yanran had left, his eyes shifting slightly, as if lost in thought.

On the lit screen of the phone in Xu Lang’s hand was a dark, ink-black background image. On it were a pair of blood-red eyes. When one looked into those eyes, they seemed to come alive, staring back fiercely at the person gazing at them.

That night passed without incident.

The next day, Xu Lang and the others arrived early at the police station, brought the families of the three victims with them, and drove out of Fangxi County in a police car, heading straight for Xiejia Valley Village. The atmosphere in the car was oppressive. To Xu Lang and the others, Xie Xintong’s poison killings were not a particularly difficult case, but for the families of the three victims, it was nothing less than a thunderbolt from a clear sky. Ever since they learned the night before that their sons had been killed by someone, they had been deeply agitated and looked terrible. When leaving the police station that morning, they had asked to see Xie Xintong and Xiang Shuifeng. After some thought, Ning Yanran had refused.

She did not refuse because of anyone else, but because in their current state of mind, it was not appropriate for them to see the mother and daughter. If they met, something might happen. One misstep, and after seeing Xie Xintong and her mother, they might lose control and strike them. That was something Ning Yanran and the others did not want to see. Whether what Xie Xintong said was true would have to wait until they saw the bones of the three victims.

After Xu Lang and the others arrived in Xiejia Valley Village, the villagers were very puzzled to see several police cars come into the village. Many came over to watch, though none approached too closely.

The cars stopped at the village entrance. Led by Dou Xihua, Xu Lang and the others found the village head of Xiejia Valley Village. After explaining their purpose, the village head immediately agreed to cooperate and said he would persuade the families of Xie Ruiyi and Li Jiazhi.

While the village head was trying to reason with the two families of the dead, Xu Lang and Ning Yanran, along with the others, went to Xiang Shuifeng’s home.

Xiang Shuifeng’s house was located in the middle of the village. It was no different from the other houses around it: an old-style dwelling of gray brick and black tile. From the outside, there was nothing unusual about it. But once Xu Lang and the others went inside, they found that Xiang Shuifeng’s home was different from an ordinary villager’s house. It had not only a television, but also a refrigerator, a washing machine, and other appliances. In the city, such things were nothing remarkable, but in the countryside they were rather rare. Most villagers could afford a television, and nearly every household in Xiejia Valley had one, though the size and brand varied. But refrigerators and washing machines were things no one was eager to buy. For one thing, a refrigerator was not very practical in the countryside. Rural life was steady and frugal; people who depended on the weather and the fields to eat did not waste money the way city people did. They knew how much they were cooking each time and almost always made just enough, so there was rarely much leftover food to store. Naturally, there was no need for a refrigerator. As for a washing machine, it was even less necessary. There was a clear stream running through the center of the village, and the villagers usually washed their clothes there. There was no need to buy a washing machine, and washing machines did not even clean especially well; they also consumed electricity, which was another considerable expense. So very few rural families bought them. That was why Xu Lang found it strange, while Ning Yanran, being a city person, thought nothing of it.

Xu Lang and the others walked around Xiang Shuifeng’s house and found many things that belonged in a city home but not in a rural one. That only confirmed how questionable Xiang Shuifeng and her daughter’s financial source really was. Looking at those things, and then thinking of the four dead, one of whom had once been Xu Lang’s childhood companion, it would be a lie to say he felt no anger. Xu Lang was human, flesh and blood, an ordinary person with the full range of human emotions and desires. How could he not be angry? The only difference between him and Ning Yanran, who had erupted upon learning the truth, was that he knew how to restrain himself and hide his feelings. If anger alone could solve problems, then when Xu Chan was murdered, when Zhang Lan was murdered, when his father Xu Yuan took his own life, Xu Lang would only have needed to be angry. In that case, he would never have become a police officer, nor this so-called criminal investigation consultant.

Rage can sometimes blind a person. To remain calm in the midst of anger, to keep a clear head and analyze the case, is the most basic quality of a police officer, especially a detective.