Chapter 261: The Truth Is Revealed (2/2)
A trace of panic flashed across his eyes. ”Of course I know which case you're talking about,” he argued. “You’re talking about my professor, although that has nothing to do with me!”
I didn't expect him to continue lying about it. ”Your professor, Qi Sheng, has been paying for your crime for ten years! Don't you feel guilty at all?” I accused.
”It had nothing to do with me,” he insisted, his expression cold and impassive. “Why should I admit to something I didn’t do?”
Every little microexpression of his told me that he was lying. But out of foolish pride, he was unwilling to admit that he was the real mastermind behind the case ten years ago and preferred to allow Qi Sheng to continue taking the blame for him.
No matter how we tried, Wang Yizhou repeated the same thing. Xiaotao and I were exhausted after a long day, and two other officers came in to take over the interrogation.
”This guy is too slick! I don’t think further interrogation is going to do anything,” she said. “Anyway, we have plenty of physical evidence.”
”But Qi Sheng's case must be clarified,” I argued.
”I highly doubt that he will admit to it,” Xiaotao said, shaking her head. “We can only rely on physical evidence to overturn the case. I think it’s better you visit the old man.”
”I guess that’s our only option!” I sighed.
The next day, Xiaotao and I headed to Mt. Leopard Prison. This time, I came to fulfill the promise I made in our last conversation. I brought the old man a pack of Chunghwa cigarettes to celebrate our arrest of Wang Yizhou.
Staring at the pack of Chunghwa cigarettes in his hand, the old man asked, ”Is he hurt?”
”No, your beloved student surrendered without any resistance,” I replied.
The old man heaved a sigh of relief.
”There is one thing I hope you can clarify,” I started. “Ten years ago, you weren’t the murderer. So why did you take the blame for him? Now that he has been arrested, you don't have to keep up the lies...”
The old man gaped in disbelief at my discovery of the truth. A few moments of silence passed as he stared at me intently.
”Would you like a cigarette?” I asked.
He slipped a cigarette between his lips, waiting as I lit it for him. The old man took a deep breath and began narrating the incidents that happened that year.
Wang Yizhou was the most intelligent and gifted of all his students. His accomplishments in mechanics far surpassed those of Qi Sheng in his younger days, even overshadowing the rising engineers in the west. The two often enjoyed discussing mechanical problems together. Upon learning the tragic circumstances of Wang Yizhou’s childhood, Qi Sheng took him as his own and often invited him to his home for dinner.
In Wang Yizhou's third year of university, the dean plagiarized Qi Sheng's paper. In an angry fit, Qi Sheng barged into the dean’s office and threatened to sue him, but the dean didn't care at all. He claimed that with his position, he could even fire Qi Sheng.
At the time, Qi Sheng was undoubtedly furious. But before he could act on it, a bit of unexpected news emerged–the dean was dead and horribly murdered.
The police found the dean's bloody body in an abandoned bungalow near the school. He was placed on a homemade torture device, body mangled and mutilated beyond recognition. The first thought that came to Qi Sheng’s mind was his beloved student, Wang Yizhou.
He proceeded to meet up with Wang Yizhou to ask him why he did such a thing.
Wang Yizhou explained he had wreaked vengeance on his behalf, to which Qi Sheng sighed, ”You silly child, this is murder! Once the police find out about it, your whole life will be ruined.”
However, Wang Yizhou looked at him, lips curled in an uncanny smile that would forever be seared into Qi Sheng’s memory.
He said, ”Professor, is the mechanism I designed perfect?”
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