Volume Twelve: An Invitation from Hell Chapter Two: The Hell of Tongue-Pulling

In the lowest court of hell, the place where tongues are torn out, there is retribution for those who sow discord, spread slander, twist the truth, and deceive with smooth words and lies. The killer said that Ye Shu loved to blur fact and fiction, to publish false reports, to put the cart before the horse, to blacken white and whiten black. That means the killer discovered something wrong with the stories Ye Shu once reported. Xuan Chen, look into the news Ye Shu covered before she died, especially the stories that caused a sensation at the time. I am certain there is some hidden secret here.

Yao Guang set down the invitation and went to the forensic room. Looking at Ye Shu’s body, she sensed it with spiritual power. There were two different fields within the corpse: one belonging to the deceased herself, and another foreign one. The victim had been forcibly separated from her soul. Yao Guang continued investigating and found something rather interesting.

"Heh. A live broadcast?" With a cold laugh, Yao Guang left the forensic room.

Back at the computer, she stared at the eerie surveillance footage. At 1:30, the camera began to tremble, then the static grew heavier and heavier until it completely filled the screen. At 2:00, the static gradually thinned, then vanished entirely. The footage had been disturbed by a magnetic field. It was a classic manifestation of spiritual fluctuation. Could the murderer be a ghost, or some kind of spirit? No, if it were a spirit, why would it bother feeding the victim anesthetic? That would be pointless. This case was truly intriguing.

An invitation from hell, or an inquisition from hell, or a punishment?

"Phoenix, Ye Shu reported several hundred stories in total, but these are the most influential ones. Take a look." Xuan Chen handed over the retrieved materials.

Yao Guang leafed through them. The first: high school students openly committing indecent acts in the classroom, harming the teaching environment. The second: a hit-and-run accident by a driver that left one dead and one injured. The third: improper gas emissions causing nearby residents to contract respiratory illness. The fourth: a corrupt merchant using pork from diseased, dead pigs to make dumplings and sell them to consumers.

"I saw these stories too. They caused an uproar at the time, but does anyone know what the follow-up reports were?" Yao Guang asked.

"I checked. There were no follow-up reports," Xuan Chen said.

"Then investigate these cases. If possible, find the people involved. I think these stories contain what we need, such as the truth behind them," Yao Guang said. "We'll split into four teams. Jiang Yun and I will handle the first case. Xuan Chen, the second. Tian You, the third. Kun and Xu, the fourth. Move out."

Yao Guang took Jiang Yun to the school where the two middle school students had once studied and found their former homeroom teacher to learn the facts. The teacher was a middle-aged man with a proper bearing.

"May I ask what you officers want to know? Did my students do something illegal out there?" the teacher asked.

"No, we want to learn about an incident from two years ago." Yao Guang took out the materials and handed them over.

The teacher looked at them and his expression darkened. "Why are you investigating this?"

"To be honest, the reporter who covered this story, Ye Shu, was murdered in the early hours of yesterday morning. During our investigation, we suspected someone had deliberately taken revenge, so we began looking into the stories she reported back then," Yao Guang explained.

"Dead? So this is karma?" the teacher sneered.

"Why do you say that?" Jiang Yun asked.

"That story was false. The truth was nothing like that at all." The teacher sighed. "The report back then came about because someone took a photo from outside the window of two children doing something indecent in the classroom. From the picture, it looked like the girl was unzipping the boy’s trousers. In reality, the girl was sewing a button on the boy’s clothes, and those two children were not lovers at all. They were half-siblings, born of the same father but different mothers. Everyone in the class actually knew the situation, but once that story came out, people all misunderstood them as an improper school romance. In the end, the two children were forced to leave school. I went to the school and asked them to clarify, but the administration refused. Only later did I learn that the principal had a family connection to Ye Shu. I wrote an anonymous letter to report it, but it still came to nothing. Those poor children carried such a terrible burden. As their homeroom teacher, I could not save them."

"So that was it. Do you know where those two children were studying afterward?" Yao Guang asked.

"Where they were studying afterward? If only it were that simple. I wish they had been somewhere, able to begin again. But it was not so. Those two children are no longer alive. Back then the story caused a huge uproar—public pressure, classmates mocking them, neighbors sneering, their parents cursing them. They could not bear it and took their own lives. I attended the funeral." The teacher’s voice broke. "They were the two best students in our class. Every year the scholarships and model-student awards went to them. Two children in the bloom of youth, gone just like that—because of a fabricated story, everything beautiful in their lives was ruined."

"They died? How could this happen?" Yao Guang stood up abruptly from the stool. "Why, why? That was two lives. Did Ye Shu think about the consequences when she reported it? Did she know what the bottom line was? Those were two lives!" Her fingernails dug deep into her palm, and blood seeped out. "I wear this police uniform so I can save whoever I can. She moved her lips and made two lives disappear. What right did she have? I swear I will uncover the truth of everything. Even if she is dead, I will make that beast be drowned in spittle once more."

"Officer, please calm yourself. If you can restore the truth of what happened back then, you will be giving these two children justice. I should be thanking you." The teacher stood and gripped Yao Guang’s hand, trembling with emotion.

"This case is mine now, all the way. When the time comes, can you testify at the press conference?" Yao Guang asked, looking at the teacher.

"I can."

"Good. Jiang Yun, notify Tian Jian. Use the fastest means to obtain the true records of the case from that year. Let’s go."

Yao Guang bid farewell to the teacher and returned to the bureau, trembling with fury.

"Phoenix, we’re back." Xuan Chen came in with a grim face and flung his jacket onto the stool.

"This is a reporter? This is a beast." Tian You also came in, his face flushed red with anger.

"Master, once we find that reporter’s soul, can we dismember it piece by piece? This is simply not human." When Huo Mingkun and Chen Haixu came in, their eyes were red. "Master, what happened to your hand?" Huo Mingkun asked, staring in horror at the blood in Yao Guang’s palm.

"The first story I investigated involved two relatives. They were brother and sister, and that photo was the sister sewing a button on her younger brother’s clothes. What indecent photo? Because of that story, because of all the mindless rumor-mongering, those two children killed themselves." Yao Guang lit a cigarette and took a fierce drag. Her whole body was shaking.

"I looked into the hit-and-run case that left one dead and one injured. It was a married couple riding an electric scooter illegally, without helmets. They fell on their own. The woman struck her head on the ground; the man was injured in the fall. The owner of the white sedan parked in front of them never touched them. He even drove them to the hospital in his own car, but the woman died during emergency treatment. The sedan’s owner was a doctor at that hospital. He said he had no idea how helping someone one night turned into being accused of hit-and-run the next day. He was investigated from every direction, and the hospital, unable to withstand public pressure, dismissed him. Now no hospital will take him. A fine graduate of a medical university, a fine attending physician, with a lifetime of skill, reduced to making a living by odd jobs and washing dishes." Xuan Chen said.

"The third story, about emissions failing to meet standards and causing nearby residents to contract respiratory illness—that was just influenza from that period, and had nothing to do with the factory. We checked all the testing reports; not only did it meet standards, everything was below even the minimum emission threshold. The factory was abandoned, but when we visited, all of its equipment was the most advanced wastewater, exhaust, and residue treatment system available. After the story broke, nearby residents went into a frenzy. The environmental bureau buckled under the pressure and ordered the factory shut down. The factory had consumed all of the owner’s savings. It was forced into ruin by false accusations, and then the owner was condemned by public opinion. Unable to repay the bank loan, abandoned by everyone, he saw no way out and took his own life, leaving behind his elderly family. At the time his child was only one month old, and his mother, unable to bear the blow, followed him in death." Chu Tianyou could not continue. He trembled with rage.

"The matter of the corrupt merchant using diseased pork to make dumplings was completely fabricated. We found the person involved and investigated his meat sources that year. It turned out the family making those dumplings had their own pig farm. Every license, every inspection, was legal, valid, and compliant. Their breeding stock was even purchased away for research. Ye Shu often went there to buy dumplings, and she was on good terms with the owner. The owner himself never imagined why Ye Shu would do such a thing. Because of her report, the dumpling shop was smashed by nearby residents. Not only did they suffer financial losses, the man was nearly beaten to death. The two of them had no choice but to return to the countryside to raise pigs. Fortunately, they still had a pig farm, but the man was badly injured and is now in a wheelchair." Huo Mingkun finished, then sat on the sofa and sighed.

With a crash, the cup in Yao Guang’s hand smashed to the floor and shattered into powder. "Everyone, investigate. Go through every story Ye Shu ever reported. Find the people involved from that time and rebuild the chain of evidence. I want to give those victims justice." Yao Guang picked up the phone. "Yi Tian, I’ll send you a dossier. Find the soul of the person named Ye Shu."

"How did a case investigation leave you this furious? What on earth happened?" Bureau Chief Jia walked in and saw the glass all over the floor and a roomful of grim faces, and was thoroughly puzzled.

"See for yourself." Yao Guang pointed at the materials on the table.

Bureau Chief Jia picked them up and read them through. The further he read, the darker his face became, and by the end his hands were trembling too.

"Chief Jia, I request special authority. I want to hold a press conference and reveal the truth behind these stories. I request that the supervisory authorities intervene, thoroughly investigate Scenic Frontline Magazine, and hold accountable all relevant departments and responsible persons from that year. I want revenge for those victims."

"Girl, are you certain?" Bureau Chief Jia asked.

"You can refuse to approve it. It doesn’t matter. At worst I will take off this police uniform. With the power I have in Ye City, I can still overturn the case. Even the heavens must change sometimes. Some seats have been occupied so comfortably for too long; they have forgotten that overhead three feet there are divine eyes watching." Yao Guang gave a cold smile.

"I appreciate that spirit. Wait here—I’m going to the provincial department right now." Bureau Chief Jia took the materials and left.

Yao Guang and the others began digging deeper into the truths behind those stories. The more they investigated, the more alarming it became, and the angrier they grew; they were almost biting the car doors and leaving tooth marks in them.

A week later, the Public Security Department held a citywide press conference broadcast live across every news channel, radio station, and public screen in the city.

"Hello, everyone. I am Phoenix, special criminal investigation consultant to Ye City Public Security Bureau. The reason I have called this press conference today is to reveal the truth behind the stories reported by journalist Ye Shu of Scenic Frontline Magazine. One week ago, Reporter Ye Shu was murdered in her office. During our investigation, we discovered that some of the stories she reported were seriously false. Now, please look at the screen."

Yao Guang listed, one by one, the false stories Ye Shu had once reported, and disclosed the truth behind each of them. Every point was supported by evidence and witnesses. In an instant, uproar erupted, and the whole of Ye City was in turmoil.

"Ye Shu reported false stories for personal gain and reputation, distorting the truth. We have already found solid evidence. We have ordered Scenic Frontline Magazine shut down, and we have formally filed charges with the Ye City procuratorate. I promise that the Ye City Public Security Bureau will pursue all participants in these cases to the end. We will restore justice to the victims." Yao Guang’s voice rang out clear and forceful, beyond dispute. "As for the case of Ye Shu’s murder, it remains under further investigation, so I will not disclose too many details. However, I ask the public not to worship blindly. No person has the right to judge another person; only the law has that right. No matter what your reasons may be, once you violate the law, you must be punished by the law."

"Old Jia, Phoenix has just given Ye City’s media a thorough cleansing," Director Zheng said in Bureau Chief Jia’s office.

"Phoenix has no patience for sand in her eyes. This is good," Bureau Chief Jia said with a smile.

"The goddess is indeed a goddess. That kind of force of character is not something just anyone can possess," Director Zheng laughed.

The press conference lasted five hours. It caused a tremendous sensation in Ye City. For a time, the internet was flooded with wave after wave of condemnation against Scenic Frontline Magazine and Ye Shu, while those who had been wrongly accused received countless apology calls and visits. Those who had lost their lives in the incidents were memorialized by innumerable people. At the middle school where the two students had studied, the students spontaneously held a memorial event, while that corrupt principal was likely headed for handcuffs and prison bars from this point on.

At the public’s request, the shuttered paper mill reopened, and this time it mass-produced toilet paper. The public declared the price fair.

Before the fired doctor could even receive an offer from his former hospital, a provincial hospital moved first and hired him directly as a specialist consultant.

When Yao Guang passed that street, there was a long line in front of a dumpling shop.

"Officer Phoenix, we’ve been waiting for you! Come in, try our freshly made sauerkraut dumplings—you must taste them," the male owner at the door said, grabbing her hand.

"You’re on your feet? I thought..." Yao Guang looked at his legs.

"Ah, the people who beat me back then pooled money to buy me a mobility aid. I can walk with it now, just a bit slowly," the owner said with a smile.

"Brother, are the celery dumplings ready today?" several men approached, laughing.

"Ready, ready." The owner quickly had the server bring them out. "Enjoy, brothers."

"Alright then, brother. Same time tonight—we’ll come help you clean up. The money has already been transferred to you." The men left.

"It was these very fellows who laid hands on me back then. Now they come every night to help us clean up. Whenever they eat dumplings, they always pay extra. I refuse it, and they get angry," the owner said.

"Grudges are best forgiven, not kept," Yao Guang said with a smile. "Pack ten servings for me. I’m taking them with me."

"Are you the owner? We’re franchise partners and want to discuss turning your dumplings into a chain. You would serve as technical consultant—what do you think?" Several men in suits came over and spoke politely.

"Oh, that’s good. My dumplings are safe to eat. The police cleared my name. My dumplings are made with conscience," the owner said, laughing.

Yao Guang’s car sped away in a cloud of dust. There was still no clue in Ye Shu’s case, and her soul had not been found. The case was not over.

What could now be determined was that the killer had first controlled Ye Shu, then separated her soul, leaving one part within her body so she would not die immediately. They had fed her a large dose of anesthetic so she could not struggle, then brutally ripped out her tongue while forcing her soul to watch from the side. It was punishment in its nakedest form. Ye Shu had reported false news, causing countless people to be deceived and harmed; this was far more vicious than mere slander.

The first level of hell: the tongue-ripping hell.