Revenge of the Scholar

A few ants kept crawling along the road. Although they moved fast, they were still too slow compared to our walking speed, especially when crossing the road. We were worried that they might get crushed under the wheels, which would make our efforts futile!

The ants didn't understand traffic lights. In order to escort them safely, we violated traffic rules countless times - forcibly stopping cars that were about to pass by and getting questioned by traffic police several times. Huang Xiaotao would then take out his detective ID and say we were working on a case.

Fortunately, there were few vehicles on the road at night. After crawling for three hours, the agonizing process finally led us to a residential building downstairs in a community. Huang Xiaotao pointed to a car excitedly, "Look, that's the car from last night!"

I looked and it was indeed that black SUV. The owner had removed the license plate, but there were no bullet impact marks on the rear. When I touched it with my hand, I realized the murderer had repaired it himself - quite capable!

We followed the ants to an apartment door. It was 3 AM then. The water meter inspection trick wouldn't work. The door opened outwards so we couldn't kick it in either. Picking the lock would make too much noise.

I suggested, "Why don't we fight fire with fire?"

"What do you mean?" Huang Xiaotao asked.

I tore down some water and electricity bill notices from the wall, got a lighter from Wang Yuanchao and lit them on fire. I told Wang Dali to start shouting. He understood and yelled, "Fire, fire!"

Nearby residents were all alerted and came out. Just as they were about to reprimand us, Huang Xiaotao flashed his police ID and gestured for them to be quiet. The residents just stood on the stairs watching the commotion. Someone asked in a low voice, "Comrade police officer, what crime did this household commit?"

Huang Xiaotao said solemnly, "That's classified police information that I can't disclose."

An older lady spoke up, "I always felt something was off about this young man. Ever since he moved in six months ago, he stays indoors all day, doesn't even say hello to neighbors when he goes out. One look and you can tell he's no good."

I asked, "Do you know his name?"

Another older lady raised her hand, "I know. I collect the water and electricity fees for this building. The person renting this place is called Jin Baoshan."

We were shocked that it was him! Just then the door opened, revealing Jin Baoshan's face in the crack. Seeing all the people outside, he immediately tried to close the door. Wang Yuanchao was quick to wedge his foot in the doorway.

Jin Baoshan turned to run, clearly attempting to jump out the window and escape. But how could Wang Yuanchao let him? He tackled Jin directly onto the sofa.

Huang Xiaotao crossed his arms and asked, "Jin Baoshan, why are you running? A guilty conscience?"

"I know why you came looking for me. I did go to the crime scene last night, I just happened to pass by wanting to see my old house again. I didn't have any other motives, I was scared and ran when you suddenly fired." Jin Baoshan said apprehensively.

Huang Xiaotao sneered, "Cut the act and confess to your murder!"

Jin Baoshan looked confused, "What murder charges? I don't know what you're talking about?"

I asked, "Where did the Bullet Ants come from?"

Jin Baoshan was startled. I captured his microexpressions with my Cave Abyss Eyes - this man was undoubtedly the murderer. He suddenly burst out laughing, "Impressive! You figured it out so quickly, it seems I underestimated you."

"Tell us everything!" Huang Xiaotao barked.

"Excuse me, please take your hands off me, this is too uncomfortable." Jin Baoshan said.

Huang Xiaotao signaled Wang Yuanchao with his eyes. Wang Yuanchao immediately let go.

Jin Baoshan got up from the floor, brushed off the dust on his clothes, and sat casually on the sofa, lighting a cigarette. When a suspect was about to confess, the police would usually act more lenient. This was also the only time they could be unrestrained.

Jin Baoshan took a puff, and slowly recounted the whole story. Five years ago, he worked at a small publishing house in a certain town. He scrimped and saved to buy a house, but at night that house would make strange noises. He and his wife didn't dare live there, and couldn't rent it out either because people said it was haunted. But no one had died there before!

The house became a burden and he could only blame his misfortune. Later when his wife became critically ill, in order to raise money for her treatment, he had no choice but to sell the house. Then came an uncle-nephew pair who claimed they could turn a haunted house clean. Jin Baoshan was overjoyed and hired them, only to find out they shook their heads after moving in, saying the house was too evil. They suggested he sell it to them at a low price as an investment property.

Their offer was rock bottom, and Jin Baoshan didn't want to sell originally. But he was too desperate for money then and agreed!

That meager amount was still insufficient for his wife's surgery fees, and she passed away in the end. In his grief, Jin Baoshan got drunk at a bar and happened to run into the uncle-nephew pair. They were also drunk and bragging to people about a great bargain they just got! A house that made strange noises every midnight - guess what was it? A goldfish trapped in the toilet bowl, bubbling every late night! After they fished it out, they netted a cool 3 million profit from flipping the house.

Jin Baoshan was furious and wanted to beat them up, but as a weak scholar he would certainly lose against them. He would never forget the greedy, ugly faces of that uncle-nephew pair, and he harbored killing intent from then on.

He secretly investigated them and found out they obtained ill-gotten wealth like this everywhere, scamming countless people who were still grateful to them. Jin Baoshan decided to make them reap what they sowed and die in a haunted house!

So he changed his appearance and got a job in Nanjiang City where the uncle-nephew pair lived. He took out a loan to buy the most evil house from court auction. Jin Baoshan didn't believe a haunted house could kill people, so he was determined to use his own brains.

After rejecting many plans, he finally came up with the safest, most foolproof one - Bullet Ants from Africa! A few years ago, he had helped compile an encyclopedia of interesting animals, which was how he thought of this obscure creature.

Just the Bullet Ants were not enough. He wanted the uncle-nephew pair to die in fear, so he researched and found an ancient aphrodisiac used by courtesans called Night Wanderer. After much trial and error, he succeeded in producing it and mixed it into the wall paint coating the walls.

With everything ready, he invited the uncle-nephew pair to help him test stay overnight in the haunted house, even saying he was grateful to them for enabling the sale of his previous house. The two were over the moon, completely unaware it was a death trap!

What happened next was exactly as I deduced. As the Bullet Ants swarmed them, Jin Baoshan sat outside the villa in his car, clutching the queen ant, reveling in their screams. He felt extremely gratified.

He didn't go back afterwards, afraid of leaving evidence behind. On the contrary, he tried to cover his tracks. Anyway, those Bullet Ants didn't live long and couldn't survive in this environment. He didn't believe anyone could unravel his scheme!

It wasn't until we came looking for him that he got a little scared, because he heard the police had recently hired a very capable consultant who cracked several major cases.

From that day on, he kept tailing us. Realizing we intended to stay overnight in the haunted house, he thought why not take this chance to kill us and eliminate all future troubles!

If three more bizarre deaths occurred in that evil house, the police definitely wouldn't dare investigate further. Then he could rest easy.

But unexpectedly, we not only came out alive, but cracked the case within a single day. He could only admire us for that!