Chapter 27.3: Old classmate’s funeral.
Chapter 27 Part 3
Sure enough, there were quite a lot of people talking about this case on the Internet.
This case was actually very simple and the evidence was conclusive. There was a neighbor who saw the female resident covered in blood from head to toe as she fled from the home. And another who saw this young married couple often getting physical and were always fighting before the crime investigation.
The only thing about this case that caught interest was the extremely miserable state of death of the person involved.
Somebody had snuck a picture of Li Xiao’s dead body before the police had arrived. This picture was constantly being deleted online, but there were always bored netizens who had saved the picture and would upload the picture again and again.
On the fuzzy photo, Li Xiao’s face was entirely cut open. His skull was split into two halves like a watermelon chopped open, falling on the ground on either side. The two split parts of the face were badly mangled by a knife. The facial features couldn’t be seen, only viscous red flesh. His two eyeballs had already fallen out of the eye sockets that were cut open, and shining white brains stuck onto the eyeballs. The pupils were rigidly staring at the ceiling, not knowing what it’s looking at.
Since he was small, Xi Jia often saw ghosts’ grotesque appearances of their death. However, after looking at Li Xiao’s picture, he nearly threw up from the disgust.
Because the murder method was too cruel, various news media had reported on this case. Wang Ru had fled right after killing the person. It wasn’t until last week that she was finally caught by the police. People from all walks of life were sternly condemning this woman, saying that she’s a vicious and poisonous woman. This case became known as the “Qiuhu poisonous woman homicide case.”
【 This woman married for the money from the beginning, but now she actually killed the person! 】
【 A phoenix man is scary, but a phoenix woman is actually this terrifying! Must have a death penalty, shoot her dead! 】1
【 Who knows how many green hats this kind of woman made the guy wear and even killed her husband! Death penalty!】2
Seeing the reports and the comments below them, Xi Jia slowly outlined the entire case.
This case was simple to the point that it couldn’t be simpler. It was a married couple at odds, they physically fought, and resulted in killing someone. Wang Ru had no choice but to declare guilty because at that time, it was only her and Li Xiao in the house. The neighbors also heard them fighting. Her prints were also on the murder weapon. She was unable to deny it.
However, this case also drew out the truth of an unsolved mystery of S City University: Why was the ordinary looking Li Xiao able to marry the department flower?
During college, Xi Jia rarely communicated with others, but he was aware that the majority of the guys in the department saw that Li Xiao wasn’t good.
Wang Ru was really beautiful, and not because she was voted as the department flower of the computer science department with few female students. Her popularity in the school was very high. She was the pillar of the drama club and earned a prize from participating in the campus singing competition. After she and Li Xiao started dating, everyone thought it was a flower stuck in pile of cow manure.
After reading these reports, only then did Xi Jia knew that Wang Ru was local to S City, but her family financial situation wasn’t well and lived in the rural area. During her third year of university, her dad had a serious illness. Their family was originally impoverished. In order to pay for the medical bills, they became even more destitute. Li Xiao knew Wang Ru since he was a child because they were from the same hometown. His parents flourished more than ten years ago and earned a lot money. The two families separated then.
When this situation arose in Wang Ru’s family, Li Xiao’s parents generously gave money. Wang Ru also didn’t know why and just started dating Li Xiao. Furthermore, she married Li Xiao after university graduation and became a housewife.
Before, the hot topic news on the Internet were mostly denouncing phoenix men. This was the first time a phoenix woman had appeared and netizens discussed intensely. There were netizens who even started a poll asking netizens if Wang Ru should immediately receive the death penalty. In the voting results, “in favor for the death penalty” had the upper hand with an absolute advantage of 92%.
Xi Jia expressionlessly read these comments by netizens and shut his phone off. He rubbed his forehead. In his mind, he didn’t think of Li Xiao, but the CS department’s department flower in the rumors.
Before Wang Ru and Li Xiao dated, there were many classmates who thought that Wang Ru would get together with Xi Jia.
During their first year, Xi Jia received Wang Ru’s love letter. He wasn’t good at interacting with other people and simply didn’t take note of this department flower. Therefore, he bluntly rejected. The last few years, whenever he and Wang Ru appeared in the same place, the classmates would always tease and shout for the department flower and department grass to get together, a perfect match.
In Xi Jia’s impression, that girl with a ponytail always wore plain and simple clothes. In the summer, other girls loved to wear beautiful skirts. Only she would always wear regular t-shirts and jeans that had gone white from washing. In the four years of college, this had never changed.
He remembered that at the graduation ceremony when this girl was suddenly proposed to, her face didn’t have much surprise or joy. Instead she looked all over in panic and locked eyes with him.
At that time, Chen Tao was shouting beside him, “Say yes! Say yes! Say yes!”
Xi Jia didn’t like to participate in this kind of lively event. Seeing that Wang Ru was looking at him, he smiled and nodded at her before looking down and continuing to play on his phone.
That girl actually used such a cruel method to kill her own husband……
Xi Jia lightly sighed a breath.
The next morning after eating breakfast, Xi Jia talked about the matter of going to attend his classmate’s funeral. Ye Jingzhi was stunned for a moment, “Do you need me to go with you?”
Xi Jia shook his head, smiling, “No need. It’s just attending a classmate’s funeral.”
Ye Jingzhi nodded his head in understanding, somewhat worried.
Xi Jia asked, “Master Ye, I heard that people who died by violence generally won’t be able to reincarnate quickly and will stay in the mortal world. Is this true?”
Ye Jingzhi answered, “En, there are such instances. Most people who died violently will have resentment. Those with less resentment will become wandering souls and stay in the mortal word for a day or two, at most seven days. Those with more resentment will become malicious ghosts. Unless they killed to take revenge, they wouldn’t let the matter drop.”
Xi Jia deeply thought for a long time and decided to let Ye Jingzhi look at that photo.
When Ye Jingzhi saw that frightening and bloody picture, his pupils contracted. After a moment, he looked up and asked, “You’re going to attend this person’s funeral?”
Xi Jia nodded, “He’s my classmate. Although we’re not very close, everyone’s in S City, and his death was pretty big. Chen Tao’s relationship with him wasn’t that bad. He had something to do and couldn’t come so he wants me to go in his place and attend the funeral.”
Ye Jingzhi knitted his brows, “The murder method is……too vicious. This person’s ghost is certainly still in this world. As long as you search at his place of death, you should be able to find his ghost. Xi Jia, I’ll go with you.”
“No need.”
Ye Jingzhi was slightly stumped, “?”
Xi Jia covered his lips and coughed, “Cough cough, I was only……only just asking a bit and don’t plan on finding his ghost. The police already identified the murderer. I’m simply going to the funeral today, that’s all.”
Ye Jingzhi wanted to say some more, but Xi Jia drank his congee at lightning speed. He got up and left, not giving Ye Jingzhi any chance to react.
After getting on the bus, Xi Jia heavily exhaled a breath, finally relaxing.
He didn’t know why, but he didn’t want Master Ye to go together with him, especially……to see Li Xiao. Once he saw Li Xiao’s ghost, he would definitely mention Wang Ru. Once Wang Ru was mentioned, maybe he would say that Wang Ru had once confessed to him.
Letting Master Ye know about his own personal matters……didn’t seem good.
En, it was because he didn’t want Master Ye to know about his personal matters, and not because he didn’t want the other party to meddle.
Precisely this reason!
The bus slowly crawled from the S City’s east side to the west side’s Qiuhu district. It was past 9 o’clock when Xi Jia arrived at the funeral. He hadn’t officially seen the mourning hall yet, and wreaths and flowers filled both sides of the path. These wreaths were arranged, spreading along the road to the mourning hall. Many strangers came to offer flowers, lightly placing the bouquets by the roadside.
“This kind of malicious woman, by all means, shouldn’t die easily. Too vicious!”
“That’s right, she’s a poisonous woman, a femme fatale!”
Two passersby walked past Xi Jia, clearly they’re people who had seen the news.
Xi Jia shook his head and entered the mourning hall. He handed the white envelope over to Li Xiao’s parents and said, “My condolences,” before entering to sit in the mourning hall.
Sitting in the hall were all Li Xiao’s friends, family, and classmates. Many of Xi Jia’s college classmates came. Once they saw him, these people were surprised one after another, pointing at him and whispering comments. But none of these people came forward to greet him.
Chen Tao wasn’t here. These people wouldn’t take the initiative to talk to him.
But not long after, a swarm of reporters and news media packed into the funeral hall. On stage, Li Xiao’s parents were weeping bitter tears and harshly denouncing that evil woman. They cried as they knelt on the ground, tightly holding their son’s black and white photo as they begged the Heavens to give their son justice and mustn’t let that woman die an easy death.
A funeral had turned into a press conference. The site became chaotic, and there were simply not many people who were really crying.
After the funeral concluded, a reporter blocked Xi Jia’s path right when he planned on leaving. This reporter carefully looked at his face and his eyes brightened, pointing his microphone over, “Mister, may I ask what is your relationship with Mister Liu Chao (alias)? Today, you came to attend his funeral, do you have anything to say? What are your thought on this case?”
Xi Jia wanted to leave, but a reporter firmly blocked his way. He could only said, “I’m his college classmate.”
The reporter was pleasantly surprised, “Then you’re also the suspect’s college classmate? May I ask what is your impression of the deceased and suspect? Do you feel any anger towards the suspect for killing the deceased so ruthlessly? Did the suspect have a violent tendency during college?”
Xi Jia’s face became cold, indifferently saying, “No comment.”
“Mister, mister!”
Xi Jia relentlessly increased his pace and left. That reporter originally wanted to block him, but a trace of black yin energy slowly wrapped around his body. The black qi coiled around, and this reporter unconsciously trembled, pulling his clothes closer. When he raised his head again, Xi Jia had already gone far. He simply couldn’t catch up.
After leaving the funeral hall, Xi Jia flagged down a taxi and arrived at the neighborhood where Li Xiao and Wang Ru lived.
When the taxi driver heard that he wanted to go to this neighborhood, he said to him, acting mysteriously, “That neighborhood is disastrous. This month, someone died and died very tragically. I heard that his wife was having affairs with men outside and had killed him with an adulterer. That’s why you need to be careful of pretty ladies. Who knows how many green hats she’ll give you to wear!”
Xi Jia didn’t talk and quietly looked out of the window.
The driver was still talking. In his description, it seemed like he was familiar with Wang Ru and knew how fickle of a woman she was, as if he personally saw Wang Ru sleeping around with over ten men. The driver talked the whole way, finally letting the matter go once they arrived at the destination.
When they arrived at the neighborhood’s entrance, Xi Jia handed the money over. He quietly laughed and asked, “Master, have you seen the photo of that man when he died?”
The master froze and blankly looked at Xi Jia.
Xi Jia’s dark eyes coldly fixed onto the driver. The eyes were bright but cold. Looking at the taxi driver’s back sent shivers. His hair from head to toe stood on ends for some reason.
Xi Jia stared at the driver for a long time. At last, he pulled the corners of his lips into a brilliant and somewhat horrifying smile, “You haven’t seen it, but I have. That man’s skull was split into two, and his flesh was mangled when he died. His eyeballs fell next to his mouth, about the size of a walnut. Do you know why the police still haven’t reached a verdict and is always saying that they’re investigating?”
The driver gulped, his body started to somewhat tremble.
The smile on Xi Jia’s lips became somewhat more magnificent. Pairing with those pair of chilly pitch-black eyes, it was a bit more horrifying.
“Because even if that woman’s strength is stronger, she shouldn’t be able to hack open a man’s skull with a knife. Master……don’t you think so?”
Three minutes later, the driver rapidly drove the car to leave, as if fleeing.
Xi Jia stood at the entrance of the neighborhood, looking at a building in the distance. He silently looked and softly murmured, “How can a woman be able to split a fully grown man’s skull into halves……”
In the next moment, Xi Jia stepped into the neighborhood.
Translator’s Addition:
Mirror: Wife left me behind……(´•ω•̥`)
C+: I just don’t want you to know my personal matters. Definitely just that!
Translator’s Notes:
1 凤凰男 Phoenix man 凤凰女 Phoenix woman – A phoenix man is a man from the rurals that marries an urban woman. Phoenix woman is the reverse. ↵
2 Wearing a green hat means to be cuckolded. ↵