Chapter Fifty-Seven: Your Majesty

Old Liao hurried forward to steady Xia Liang, and I stepped up and snatched her phone from her hand.

Seemingly frightened by our sudden actions, Xia Liang crumpled to the floor. Before her eyes lay a gruesome scene of severed hands and feet scattered about, and she began to scream in terror.

“Aaah!”

Her shriek pierced the stillness of the night. Fortunately, this was a luxury villa district with few residents, so there was little chance of attracting neighbors and causing a disturbance.

I glanced at the phone—the call had already ended. It seemed impossible to keep this hidden any longer.

“Miss Xia, you’ve witnessed what just happened here. The one you shared a bed with before—he wasn’t human.”

Reluctant though we were, we had to tell her the truth.

I walked around the house, surveying the aftermath. All traces of the supernatural had vanished. The vengeful spirits in the mirror were gone, as were the sinister wooden sculptures in the garden—now appearing perfectly ordinary, without a hint of their former grotesque faces.

The mirror in the master bedroom was now laced with cracks, unable to reflect a human form. I suspected that a single touch would send those shards tumbling to the ground. Only then did I finally breathe a sigh of relief.

Recalling the earlier events in the mirror, I realized that behind the haunted house lay an uncanny and wicked ritual—a bargain sealed with four human lives to resurrect another. The man in white rubber-soled shoes, who appeared repeatedly in the vision, was certainly the mastermind.

But the twin swallow mark on his hand… what could it mean?

I considered the situation: though the evil spirits had vanished, “Sun Xing’s” corpse remained, its grotesque state making it impossible to simply dispose of the pieces in some remote wilderness. That would be ill-advised for two reasons.

First, Xia Liang had been present the entire time. I couldn’t be sure she wouldn’t say something to the police. If she turned on us, we’d become suspects in a case where we had no true involvement.

Second, even if we disposed of the remains, advances in forensic technology meant the body could be unearthed years later and traced back to us, leaving us defenseless.

In light of all this, calling the police seemed the wisest course.

Even if we told the police about the haunting, they’d probably just think us mad. At least we hadn’t tampered with the scene, so we could prove our innocence.

“Let’s call the police, then,” Old Liao sighed, instructing Ahao to leave first while the rest of us stayed behind with Xia Liang to await law enforcement.

The police arrived quickly, sealing off the scene. The lead detective was a striking woman with short hair. She scowled at the scattered body parts.

We were separated for questioning. The detective and I sat facing each other in the living room; she handed me a glass of water.

“You made the call? What happened here?”

“I’m a tattoo artist. That body is my client’s boyfriend.”

Old Liao, Xia Liang, and I had coordinated our stories before the call. We said Xia Liang had hired us for a tattoo, and upon arrival, we discovered the corpse.

The story was tenuous, but there were no glaring inconsistencies.

The female officer clearly didn’t trust me, her sharp gaze scrutinizing me as if trying to see through me.

Her stare made me uneasy, and I could only scratch my head and laugh awkwardly.

Given the quasi-interrogation, the atmosphere remained tense, and I hadn’t had a good look at the officer until now. When I finally did, I realized she was the very image of an ice queen: short hair, leather jacket, tall boots, delicate features, and eyes that flashed with intelligence.

“If a man married a woman like her, he’d have his hands full,” I couldn’t help but think.

The crime scene unit moved efficiently, bagging the remains for later examination. Officers bustled in and out, taking photos and notes, filling the house with activity.

“Your Majesty, the scene has been processed. The remains will go to forensics. But the girl in the back room is emotionally unstable—what should we do?”

“Your Majesty?” I thought, “That’s a strange nickname for a woman…”

Lost in thought, I couldn’t help but chuckle aloud.

The officer shot me a withering glare at the sound.

“Bring them all in for questioning. We’ll wait for the coroner’s report before drawing conclusions!”

She commanded obvious respect; not one of the male officers dared contradict her—the nickname “Your Majesty” was well-earned.

The team worked with impressive speed, collecting all the initial data in just over an hour.

She shot me a sidelong glance. “Come with me for a formal statement.”

Her hand brushed her belt, revealing a set of “silver bracelets.”

“Officer, we’re the ones who called the police, not criminals. Is it really necessary to cuff us?” Sweat beaded on my forehead. I’d never even been in a schoolyard fight, let alone a situation like this.

“No need for that. We just need your cooperation to clarify what happened.”

She smiled, putting away the cuffs, dropping her icy demeanor for warmth. The sudden shift left me bewildered—what game was she playing?

Could it be that she’d fallen for my handsome face?

I stroked my chin and grinned inwardly. After all, this was a supernatural case; no matter how hard they investigated, nothing would point to us. So why not cooperate?

Soon, Old Liao and Xia Liang emerged from the back room. I gestured for Old Liao to follow the officers.

Xia Liang’s eyes were swollen—clearly, she’d been crying. Sensing my gaze, she quickly averted her eyes.

Surely, Xia Liang wouldn’t betray us?

An uneasy feeling gnawed at me, but there was no time to confer with Old Liao before the officer ushered me into the police car.

Squeezed between two young officers in the back seat, I felt distinctly uncomfortable.

“Listen, officers, how many times do I have to say it? I’m a good, law-abiding citizen, not a murderer! Isn’t this a bit much?”

The officers beside me ignored my protests. The female officer in the passenger seat glanced back.

“Just routine. Thanks for understanding.”

Still fuming, I watched as the car pulled into the police station.

Inside the interrogation room.

“Let me introduce myself: my surname is Xuan, given name Ye. You can call me Officer Ye.”

Xuan Ye? Wasn’t that the name of an emperor…?

I kept a straight face, but inwardly I was amused. A woman with that name—no wonder they called her “Your Majesty.”

“Is something funny?” she asked, sensing my amusement.

“No… nothing at all.”

“Now, tell me: what was your relationship with the deceased, and why were you at his home?”

Officer Ye’s expression became solemn again, her eyes boring into mine.

My heart pounded, but at least Old Liao and I had rehearsed our answers.

“The deceased was the boyfriend of my client, Xia Liang. We were meeting her for business.”

“Why discuss a tattoo at her house in the middle of the night, instead of your shop?” Officer Ye’s disdain for our profession was obvious in her tone.

“Well, my client is superstitious. She insisted something unclean was haunting her home and wanted a protective tattoo.”

Officer Ye tapped her finger impatiently on the table.

“Please be serious and cooperate with the investigation. Don’t bring up old superstitions.”

“I’m telling the truth.”

As a law-abiding citizen, I told her everything—except for the details of the Four Symbols corpse ritual. They didn’t believe me; in fact, they thought I was spinning ghost stories about haunted mirrors.

“Officer Ye, do you believe in ghosts?”

“Ghosts are nothing more than a disturbance in the magnetic field.”

This officer was the most steadfast materialist I’d ever met, dismissing any mention of spirits or the supernatural with a sneer.

In the end, there was little to be gained from the conversation. Officer Xuan Ye, unable to glean anything useful, wrapped up the interview.

Leaving the interrogation room, I saw Old Liao and Xia Liang dozing in chairs.

“You’re free to go, but please keep your phones on so we can contact you if needed.”

Old Liao patted his chest. “No problem. You can find us at our shop anytime.”

I handed over a business card with my tattoo parlor's details and left with Old Liao.

“Yin-Yang Divine Embroidery, Warding Off Calamity and Misfortune? Hah, charlatans,” Officer Ye muttered, tossing the card onto her desk before heading to the forensics department.

“Damn, that scared me half to death. First time I’ve ever been in a police station,” Old Liao grumbled as we sat by the roadside eating wontons, adding chili to his bowl while he rambled.

“You didn’t mention the Four Symbols corpse ritual, did you?” I asked anxiously, not knowing what Old Liao or Xia Liang had said during their separate interviews.

“Of course not! This whole thing was too bizarre—evil rituals, ghost embroidery… We still don’t know the full story. Let’s meet up with Ahao after we eat,” he replied, slurping down wontons.

He was right. No matter what, the haunting was over. But with lives lost, this was no matter for ordinary people like us to meddle in.

With our bellies full, we returned to the shop. Sprawled across my own bed, I felt as if I’d been reborn, even though it had only been two days away. Before long, I drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.