The Young Girl's Chronicles of Demon-Slaying

Chapter 36: Protesting His Innocence

“I really do know them!” Wang Yiting protested, “Little sister, tell me—isn’t that right? I’m very familiar with your Uncle Song! I even had dinner at their house last time!” “Is that right, little girl?” Li Qingshu asked. Song Jianqiu tilted her head slightly, the corners of her mouth curving upward. Though it was clearly a smile, Wang Yiting instantly had a bad feeling: “I don’t know… I don’t know him!” “You! You’re lying!” Hearing those words, Wang Yiting’s heart sank instantly, and he immediately cried out, “It’s obvious—I was having dinner at the Song family’s house just over a week ago! Weren’t you sitting at the table too? And I’ve been to your house since then as well! How can you lie and say you don’t know me?” Wang Yiting grew agitated and struggled even more violently. Li Qingshu, who had already loosened her grip slightly, nearly lost control of him. She suddenly planted her foot firmly, forcing Wang Yiting down with a single thrust. In that moment, his raised head, caught off guard, slammed against the floor. “Ouch! My nose!” Wang Yiting felt his snot and tears mixing together, and something sticky seemed to be oozing from his nostrils—it looked like a nosebleed. Seeing Wang Yiting cry out, Li Qingshu glanced over and confirmed he was indeed bleeding from the nose, though she felt little remorse. She turned to Song Jianqiu and asked, “Little sister, do you really not know this man?” “I don’t know him!” Song Jianqiu had already dropped the slight smile from her lips and resumed her expressionless face. “You’re lying… Ouch! You little brat! You’re lying!” Wang Yiting seemed to be suffering a tremendous injustice; he threw himself on the ground, wailing and crying out to the heavens. His voice was so loud that it gradually drew the attention of students and parents—like Song Jianqiu—who lived in the neighborhood and were passing by. “You said you knew me—so do you know my name?” Upon hearing this question, Wang Yiting abruptly stopped his wailing. To be honest, not only did he not know Song Jianqiu’s name, but his entire understanding of her relationship with Song Wencheng and his wife was based purely on his own guesses—he had never actually asked. Now that she’d asked, in the past he probably wouldn’t have given it a second thought. But now, with someone standing on him and desperate to get free, he’d claimed to know the Song family yet couldn’t even say their names—so he was instantly at a loss. “W-what’s your name?” Wang Yiting asked dryly. “I’m not telling you!” Song Jianqiu said, then turned and walked away without another word to him. “Look at that—you claimed to know someone from the Song family, but you don’t even know their name! And you call that knowing them?” Although Li Qingshu was a relatively petite girl, she was surprisingly strong. She actually lifted Wang Yiting off the ground in one swift motion. Since she didn’t have handcuffs or anything like that, she could only twist his hands behind his back and push him along. It was just lunchtime, when school let out. With so many houses in the area, there were naturally plenty of children passing by on their way home. The reason there hadn’t been many people earlier was simply because Song Jianqiu had been walking rather quickly. Now that they’d been delayed for a while, the street was starting to fill with people and become bustling. The group of students ranged in age; some, like Song Jianqiu, were carrying backpacks, while others had empty hands but were wearing school uniforms, and still others were being picked up by their parents. Quite a few people had seen the moment when Wang Yiting hit his nose earlier. Now that he had stood up, they could see that snot, tears, and blood from his nose were practically mixed together on his face, making him look utterly bedraggled. So, giggling and snickering, they gathered around to gawk at the spectacle. Wang Yiting gave up resisting and, with his head hanging low, let Li Qingshu push him forward. But they hadn’t gone far when they saw a police car pull up and stop by the roadside. Seeing the police car, Li Qingshu assumed someone had called the police—which actually spared her the trouble of personally taking him to the police station. But upon a closer look, she realized she seemed to recognize the driver. A middle-aged man in his thirties then stepped out of the driver’s seat and walked toward the two of them. Upon seeing him, Li Qingshu greeted him: “Hello, Team Leader Liu! Team Leader Liu, what brings you here?” “Qing Shu, what are you doing here?” Liu Zhao glanced at Wang Yiting, whose face was a mess of snot, blood, and tears, and asked Li Qingshu, “I heard you moved, so I thought I’d come by to lend a hand. How come, in the time it took me to get here, you’ve already caught someone?” “Captain, you’re too late—I’ve already cleaned everything up!” Li Qingshu said with a smile. “And I caught a thief while I was at it!” “I’m innocent!” At that moment, Wang Yiting seemed to snap out of it. As soon as he saw Liu Zhao, he protested, “I really am not a thief! I know that whole family!” “Don’t give me that! You were sneaking around outside peeking in. You claim to know them, yet you don’t even know their kid’s name! Who’d believe that?” Li Qingshu slapped Wang Yiting on the shoulder so hard that Wang Yiting almost thought his shoulder bone had shattered. He felt a sharp tingling sensation and couldn’t help but cry out in pain. “That girl isn’t their child! They only have one son, and he’s away at college!” Wang Yiting felt like he’d really hit rock bottom today. He’d finally managed to take a break, only to be falsely accused of being a thief right here! This was a massive injustice, okay? He’d never been treated this unfairly in his entire life! “What proof do you have that the little girl isn’t their daughter?” Li Qingshu still didn’t believe him and pressed further. “If you don’t believe me, go knock on the door and ask!” Wang Yiting seemed to have just remembered something and said hurriedly, “Right! Go knock on the door and ask! It’s noon right now; they should all be home! Go ask them! You’ll find out if you ask!” If he’d been alone, he might have been wary of the masters lurking behind the scenes at the Song household—wondering if they’d intervene—but with so many people around, he had no such reservations. After all, in this day and age, both Daoist and Buddhist traditions had already declined considerably; they had largely withdrawn from the world to recuperate and, unless absolutely necessary, would not display their Daoist arts or Buddhist teachings in public. This had become an unwritten rule, tacitly accepted by both the righteous and the evil. He was confident that, with two police officers accompanying him, even if the Song family truly had some hidden master behind the scenes, they would absolutely not dare to lay a finger on him—at most, they’d wait until after he’d left to act. And he might as well take this opportunity to infiltrate their inner circle and gather some intelligence—after all, as the saying goes, “You can’t catch a tiger’s cub without entering the tiger’s den,” right? Liu Zhao and Li Qingshu exchanged glances. The former’s eyes clearly conveyed a sense of “You’ve gotten yourself into trouble again,” while the latter couldn’t help but feel a twinge of guilt. This guy had volunteered to go confront that family—if he weren’t truly confident, he certainly wouldn’t have dared to say such a thing. Moreover, judging by the way he kept urging them on, it was almost certain he actually knew that family. So why couldn’t he recall the girl’s name just now? And why did the girl claim she didn’t know him? With many questions swirling in their minds, the three of them ultimately decided to go to the house and ask. (End of Chapter)