Chapter 74: The Course of Events

  When everyone heard what Mao Xiaobao said, they were all stunned. They did not expect that a man would kill other women in order to kill his own wife.

  After a long silence, Mao Xiaobao continued: "Firstly, my target was Yu Tingting. This woman relied on her family's wealth and was extremely arrogant. Through my investigation, I understood her habits and what happened between her and Nian Feng. So, on the night she agreed to meet Nian Feng, I suddenly attacked her, stabbed her dozens of times, and left quickly. Don't look at me as weak, I'm actually very strong, all thanks to this woman making me do so much heavy labor every day."

  At this point, Hua Lang did not suspect, and it was only when he saw Mao Xiaobao pulling the mill that he suddenly thought of it. People like Mao Xiaobao have the ability to kill Yuan Fang and Biaozi, and by spreading rumors, Hua Lang suddenly understood that the real purpose of the murderer was not to kill all the women who were promiscuous, but to kill the Maos.

  The hall was very quiet, with only Mao Xiaobao's voice coming from time to time.

  "Yuan Fang, that widow is quite fierce, I'm worried I won't be able to handle her, so I decided to first try to get close to her. She's a widow, only men with money can sleep with her, but because she's a widow, it's also easy to win her heart. If I treat her well and make her feel like she has a husband, then she'll naturally be devoted to me. And when she's devoted to me, that's when I'll kill her. That day at noon, I saw Zheng Tuihu going to find her and pestering her, so I thought the time was right. I asked her out, saying I'd take her far away from Zheng Tuihu's harassment. She relied on me, of course she listened, but after we walked around the street corner, I suddenly made my move."

  After listening to Mao Xiaobao's words, everyone felt a chill on their backs. They could imagine the day Yuan Fang was killed, with the scorching sun high in the sky, Yuan Fang happily following the man she thought she could entrust her life to, only for him to suddenly turn around and stab her, then frantically slash at her corpse.

  Cold, hot, shocking everyone's head, making everyone fall into meditation for a while, and everyone's meditation was interrupted by Mao Xiaobao's words.

  "After killing Yuan Fang, I started spreading rumors that two people had died in Tianchang County, it was a serial murder case, the killer's target was a shrew, and then I prepared to take action against this stinky woman. But what I didn't expect was that the rascal actually knew about my relationship with Yuan Fang and threatened me to give him money, if it were usual, I would have given it to him, but at this time, I had already committed two murders, so why should I be afraid of one more?"

  Mao Xiaobao said with a laugh, "You guys don't know, when you kill someone, the feeling of the knife piercing through their body is so exhilarating, it's driving me crazy! I'm starting to love killing, do you know that?" After saying this, Mao Xiaobao let out a cold laugh and said, "You guys don't know, you have no idea, because you've never killed anyone before, you don't know the joy of killing."

  The rest of the story, no need to say, everyone already knows. Since Mao Xiaobao was unwilling to give money, he had no choice but to kill Biaozi. They agreed to meet at Biaozi's house to hand over the money, but when it came time to make the exchange, Mao Xiaobao suddenly struck out with his knife and slashed at Biaozi.

  Biaozi was a hoodlum, but in his own home, he was somewhat off guard, and so he ended up dead.

  After listening to Mao Xiaobao's words, Bao Zheng's face turned extremely ugly. After a long time, he finally couldn't bear it and shouted loudly: "You are a ruthless and crazy person! Not killing you is not enough to calm the people's anger. Come on, take this man away and execute him immediately."

  Mao Xiaobao had already anticipated his own fate, so he did not beg for mercy. Instead, he hoped to die early, as dying early would mean no more suffering.

  Just before he was taken away, he said with a sob: "I should have thought of it earlier, I should have thought of it, everything last night was a trap, there is still a shrew on West Street, if I don't go to kill her, who will? Unfortunately, unfortunately, I really can't bear this woman, I want to get rid of her as soon as possible!"

  Mao Xiaobao was taken away, and the people outside the hall said a few words about Bao Zheng being a fair and just official after which they gradually dispersed. They seemed to have already gotten used to it, getting used to shouting "Fair and Just Official" after Bao Zheng solved a big case, and then leaving without a care, going back to their own business. But when Bao Zheng made another slight mistake or didn't meet their expectations, they would collectively rush over again, making a ruckus about things that had nothing to do with them, as if they wouldn't be satisfied until they had swallowed Bao Zheng whole.

  Looking at the gradually dispersing crowd, Bao Zheng also felt a sense of desolation. If the people still only believed in him superficially, then being the county magistrate was truly meaningless.

  The physical evidence was picked up by someone and brought to the inner hall. Bao Gong bowed his hands in gratitude to Hua Lang, saying: "Thanks to Brother Hua today, if it weren't for those few words from Brother Hua earlier, this case would have dragged on."

  Everyone who heard this was somewhat surprised. Wasn't Mao Xiaobao willing to confess because of the knife in Bao Gong's hand? What did it have to do with what Hua Lang said earlier?

  Seeing the crowd's confusion, Bao Zheng explained: "Mao Xiaobao's knife was sharp, but too ordinary. It should have been bought from an iron shop and then sharpened at home. Such knives are common in Tianchang County, and the wounds they inflict are also similar. It's difficult to determine Mao Xiaobao's guilt based on the wound alone."

  After Bao Zheng finished speaking, everyone finally understood what was going on.

  At this time, everyone suddenly felt hungry. Bao Gong saw this and hastily ordered the kitchen to cook for everyone.

  While eating, Hua Lang said to Bao Zheng, "Brother Bao, since the case is solved, will you give us some reward?"

  As soon as Hua Lang said this, the whole dinner table suddenly fell silent. Everyone thought to themselves, "How can Hua Lang be so shameless? The vase is broken and he still wants compensation. Isn't that losing face?"

  Hualang saw that everyone was like this, and he also felt helpless in his heart. Who made people poor and short-sighted? The detective agency had been open for so long, and only the case of Yu Fu had allowed him to earn 100 taels of silver. But 100 taels were still too little for a detective agency. This Bao Zheng was the county magistrate, and he had promised to do things for him. Now that he made such demands, it wasn't excessive, was it? Why did they look at him like that?

  After a long time, Bao Gong suddenly patted Hualang's shoulder and laughed: "Brother Hua is really good at joking, why do you still want this money?"

  Hualang's face suddenly turned iron-green. At this time, Bao Gong suddenly laughed and said: "I was just kidding you, the money has already been prepared for you."