Lord of Enigma

Tang Qi took a seat. Sergeant Stana only came over after a while.

However, the stern look on her face had significantly mellowed by then. At least, the way she looked at Tang Qi was no longer as sharp, most probably because she took the opportunity to get an idea of his current situation from the principal while Tang Qi was walking over.

He was a small-built teen who had just lost his parents. How could he possibly be the murderer?

"Tang Qi, right? I was too stern earlier. I hope I didn't scare you.

"Relax, I just want to ask you a few questions. This is just a routine inquiry with no other meaning behind it. Everyone who was in the school last night needs to undergo questioning like this."

"Let's start now then."

One must admit that after she put away her stern expression, Sergeant Stana was indeed a mature lady who was very amiable and also very pretty.

Whether by the beauty standards of this world or those of his past life on Earth, she was a stunning beauty. Her tall and slender figure, in particular, made people find it a shame that she wasn't a model instead.

If it had been the original Tang Qi, he would probably have been shy and excited at interacting with such a gentle and mature older woman and spilled everything immediately.

What a shame that this was the current Tang Qi now.

Sergeant Stana flipped open a small booklet, ready to begin the routine inquiry. Looking at the female sergeant sitting in front of him, Tang Qi didn't bother waiting for her to pop the first question. He raised his bandaged arm slowly and pulled casually at the bandages with his other hand, unraveling them.

In no time, Tang Qi's wound, which was well on the way to recovery but still grotesque, was revealed before Stana's eyes.

The wound which most people would find disgusting naturally didn't frighten the female sergeant. Stana took a look at Tang Qi's arm and pulled a passing forensic scientist over. After exchanging a few soft whispers, the forensic scientist immediately started to examine Tang Qi's wound.

Before long, the forensic scientist re-bandaged Tang Qi's arm and then informed Stana of his findings and conclusion.

Before leaving, the forensic scientist even kindly advised Tang Qi. "Little buddy, you'd best hurry and get a vaccination jab for rabies after suffering such a bad bite from a canine. Better to play it safe while it's still within 24 hours of receiving the bite."

The forensic scientist's conclusion was equivalent to proving Tang Qi's innocence.

After all, someone whose arm was so badly injured couldn't possibly peel the skin off four adolescent girls while they were still alive in the wee hours.

He appreciated the thought. If he'd been a normal human, he would really have to worry about contracting rabies. However, Tang Qi was capable of viewing his status anytime he wished now.

In addition, the primitive herbs he had gotten from the Saha Continent seemed to produce excellent results.

Although he was now completely free of suspicion, Tang Qi couldn't be exempted from the routine questioning process nevertheless. Just that this time, Sergeant Stana's countenance had fully eased up. She even showed a couple of extremely stunning smiles once in a while.

In the midst of the questioning, they suddenly heard a commotion.

The two of them looked towards the source of the commotion at the same time to see a girl breaking past the police tape in a very anxious manner and dashing quickly towards them. For a while there, the police officers behind her actually couldn't keep up with her.

"Tang Qi, how are you? Are you alright?"

"Ma'am, I can be Tang Qi's alibi. He's my friend. He sent me home last night. This case definitely has nothing to do with hi—"

"Ugh~"

Obviously, having arrived rather late and in a hurry, Sally wasn't aware of what had happened here yet.

She was in such a hurry to provide an alibi for Tang Qi that when she unwittingly turned and saw the state of the room, Sally couldn't help but throw up right away. Although the corpses had been transported away, the blackened and coagulated blood on the mattresses and the ground was still sufficiently frightening and disgusting.

This was the first time the poor girl was seeing such a visually impactful scene.

If all went well, she would probably be having nightmares that night.

However, this interruption of hers did give Sergeant Stana a pretty good impression of Tang Qi and Sally at the same time.

It looked like these were just two ordinary high school students.

Her previous suspicions were born from her professionalism. After understanding the situation, it was also very normal that her attitude would mellow.

When Sally felt a little better, Stana led the two of them away from the crime scene. Then, she turned to go back and carry on with the investigation.

It hadn't been long since she became the chief sergeant of the Moses Police Station. The moment she was promoted, she encountered such a troublesome and vicious case. As such, she was rather anxious and on edge right now.

Other than the fearsomeness of the case, the location of the crime was also way too delicate.

Holy Thorns High School had an extraordinary status in Moses City. The families of the four cheerleaders who died could only be said to be well-off at best and not to the extent where even the police didn't dare to offend them.

This wasn't necessarily the case for the other students.

A lot of people here were either wealthy or part of the nobility.

Should anything go wrong, before even going on to the issue of whether the case was solved or not, she could very well lose her position first.

This was also the reason why the person-in-charge of this huge murder case was her, a newbie.

Because none of the other wily old foxes were willing to be involved.

However, these "external factors" weren't the reason for her troubles. What truly troubled the female sergeant was how difficult this case was to handle.

The skin of four adolescent girls in their prime was peeled off overnight while they were still alive, yet there wasn't even a hint of anything that alerted the neighboring students. This was enough to show just how terrifying the murderer was.

And the most inconceivable thing was that there wasn't even a single clue left behind in the crime scene.

Fingerprints, hair, footprints... Nothing. Not even biological traces such as sweat.

In Stana's more than ten years in the police force, this was the first time she had ever encountered such a murderer.

Although she was an outstanding police officer, she had a strong feeling that the fearsomeness of her opponent this time might be far beyond her imagination.

After sending Tang Qi and Sally out of the barricade boundary, Stana turned around with a frown.

Right at this moment, Tang Qi, who had just stepped out of the barricade boundary, paused for a moment. His eyes flickered, as if he was contemplating something. Very quickly, he made a decision.

Tang Qi turned around to face Stana. A hint of "hesitation" flashed across his face, but he chose to speak nonetheless. "Sergeant Stana, have you ever heard of 'The Kiss of Venus'?"

"Huh?"

Stana was taken aback for a moment at Tang Qi's sudden question. She subconsciously thought about it and then shook her head.

"It's a game similar to Bloody Mary, just that it's not popular within the Condor Federation. It originated in and was popularized in the Anglu state of the Europa Union. Young girls most love playing games to do with fear and beauty like this during long and boring nights."

"The rules of the game…"

Tang Qi paused for a moment.

At this point, something seemed to have occurred to Stana, and her expression turned serious.

As expected, the content which came out of Tang Qi's mouth the next moment made Stana tense up all over. Her hair stood on end, and she felt a tingling sensation on her scalp.

Tang Qi's expression was equally serious. From afar, he cast a glance at the busy room and said, "Venus is the symbol of love and beauty. It is said that if one receives a kiss from her, she shall receive eternal beauty and the truest love."

"The rules of this little game with such lovely connotations are as such — the girls must undress completely and lay down on their side on the bed. They must scatter red rose petals around themselves and wear a flower crown on their heads. They must also place a seashell that's filled to the brim with cerulean blue seawater next to them."

"Should the ritual succeed, she who summons the kiss shall receive the blessings of the goddess Venus. In other words, beauty and true love."

"Should the ritual fail, the summoner would have to offer up her own looks and lifespan. And she will turn even older and uglier."

"Of course, this is just a boring little game."

"Venus doesn— probably doesn't exist."

"Hiss~"

Stana's heartbeat pounded harder and harder with every word from Tang Qi.

No further explanation was needed. Even Sally at the side had a look of horror and worship all over her face at this point.

Worship aside, her horrified reaction was very understandable.

Because right now, inside that room with its door ajar, a scene that matched Tang Qi's description exactly could be seen.

As a police officer with excellent memory, Stana didn't even need to look behind her to know that the setup of every girl's bed in that room right now was exactly like what Tang Qi had just described.

Surprise and excitement filled Stana in this moment.

It was very possible that a case that was originally very troublesome had welcomed a turn for the better, thanks to Tang Qi's words.

However, Stana's imagination was clearly not wild enough because the true huge favorable turn was what Tang Qi said next.

"Based on what I know, in order to complete this little game, the most important tool is the seashell. In the rules, it is necessary to use seashells from the Aegean sea. Although the seashells aren't by any means rare, the four girls obviously wouldn't be able to get their hands on the real deal within a short period of time."

"So…"

With the answer revealed, Tang Qi didn't go on any further.

Just that when a terribly worked up Stana was about to turn around, he gave her another reminder. "Sergeant Stana, someone who's capable of committing such a horrific act will definitely be very fearsome. If it's possible, it's best that you do not give him the chance to counter-attack or escape when capturing him."

One couldn't tell whether his last sentence had sunk into Stana or not. After hurriedly saying an "okay", the beautiful female sergeant who was full of drive and vigor rushed back to the crime scene, going straight for those four strange seashells filled with cerulean blue seawater that laid quietly next to the beds.