As we were on stakeout, I called the Director-General and gave him a brief summary of the current progress. After hearing my report, he said, “If the evidence is conclusive, the judiciary can issue an arrest warrant.”

“Can a person be convicted for murder if they use a curse to kill the victim?”

After a moment of silence, Director-General Cheng replied, “That would be difficult. Modern law is based on scientific principles. But as I said, special circumstances may be treated specially. If you have solid proof that the curse can be used to murder people, then leave the judicial process that follows to me.”

“I’ve been a police officer for nearly forty years,” he added. “I’ve been exposed to hundreds of cases. A number of them involved factors that were difficult to explain with common sense or scientific principles alone. Personally, I believe your judgment about this case.”

“Thank you, Director-General Cheng,” I said excitedly, “I vow that I will bring the real murderer to justice!”

“You must be careful,” Director-General Cheng reminded me.

“I will!” I hung up.

After a while, Dali complained that he had to pee. Huang Xiaotao teased him about having a weak bladder, to which Dali retorted, “Geez! It’s a normal biological function! I can’t control this!”

The area surrounding the factory was desolate. There were no shops or houses in sight at all. There would be toilets in the factory, of course, but I told Dali that was out of the question, so he had to go into a bush nearby to relieve himself.

When Dali was in the car, everything was normal and friendly and we all chatted as usual. But when he left, for some reason I felt the atmosphere grew tense. Being with Huang Xiaotao alone in the car suddenly made me feel inexplicably nervous!

In order to loosen up the tension, I tried to change the radio station to see if there were any good programs. Meanwhile, Huang Xiaotao fiddled with the air conditioner knobs again and again. Occasionally, we’d be looking out the window. Neither of us said anything.

What the hell is going on? I thought. Why is it getting so awkward in here?

Huang Xiaotao suddenly stopped fiddling with the knobs. “Come over here!” She motioned me with her finger.

“What?”

She turned her back to me and explained, “My shoulders are so sore. The pillows in the hotel room must’ve been too stiff for me. Come on, help me massage my shoulders.”

“Uh… okay,” I nodded.

Huang Xiaotao leaned her body against me. My cheeks burned up instantly, but nonetheless, I put my hands on her shoulders and squeezed them gently. Due to her daily tasks as a police officer, Huang Xiaotao didn’t wear any makeup or perfume, but her body still emitted a faint aroma like freshly-picked jasmine. It was probably the unique fragrance of women.

After massaging for a while, Huang Xiaotao complained, “Can’t you put more energy into it? Didn’t you eat this morning?”

“Your leather jacket is too thick!” I argued. “That’s probably why you didn’t feel it.”

“Fine, I’ll take off my jacket then,” she said, unzipping the front of her jacket.

“No, don’t!” I stopped her nervously.

Huang Xiaotao stared at me and burst into laughter.

“Look at you!” she mocked. “Your face is all red! Are you too shy when you’re alone with a girl?”

I was terribly embarrassed at that point, and my mind was in a daze and I didn’t know how to react. I’d never been in a relationship before, but wasn’t Huang Xiaotao just as inexperienced as me in this matter? Why was she so relaxed? Was it just our different personalities at play?

Huang Xiaotao proceeded to take off her jacket. She only wore a white T-shirt beneath it, which perfectly outlined the curve of the body and showed off her smooth skin, shapely arms, full breasts and her slender waist. Her perfect hourglass figure would make even some supermodels envious.

Huang Xiaotao leaned back closer and closer to me until her back was practically resting on my chest. At that moment, I could smell the jasmine aroma that she emanated even more strongly!

As I massaged her shoulders, I could clearly feel the warmth of her body through the thin barrier of the T-shirt. Her muscles were firm and pronounced—she was probably much stronger than me. The proportions of her body were just right; she was neither too thin nor too fat. Her skin was smooth and supple too. In short, it wouldn’t take her much effort at all to seduce a man.

From where I sat, I had a clear view of the soft peaks of her breasts and the deep line of her cleavage. When I noticed this, my cheeks burned to the roots of my ears, and I subconsciously increased the force of my hands as I massaged Huang Xiaotao’s shoulders. She suddenly moaned and murmured, “That feels so good! Keep going!”

“D-Don’t… Don’t make that weird kind of sound!” I stammered.

“Why not? Are you embarrassed?” she teased, looking at me with a smile. “If you stutter like that when you talk to a girl, you’ll never be able to find a girlfriend!”

“That’s none of your business!”

Huang Xiaotao noticed my eyes and said, “You pervert! You’re staring at my boobs, aren’t you?”

“No, absolutely not!” I vehemently denied.

Huang Xiaotao’s next move almost made my eyes bulge out of their sockets. She grabbed her boobs with both of her hands and squished them together. My head was damn near exploding when she sighed and said, “They’re too big and cumbersome! They give me back and shoulder pain all the time! You men won’t ever understand this feeling.”

“Uh… Okay.”

“You should give me more massages in the future,” Huang Xiaotao suggested.

“Is that necessary?” I asked. “You could just buy a massage chair. It’s much more convenient and it’s not that expensive anyway.”

Huang Xiaotao laughed. “I’m convinced of it now—you really don’t know how to say the right things to please a girl even if your life depends on it.”

She poked me at a sore spot. My cheeks burned with embarrassment. “I’ll give you more massages in the future then,” I muttered.

After a while, Huang Xiaotao said, “That’s enough. My shoulders feel fine now. Turn around, I’ll give you shoulder massages too.”

“I don’t need it,” I said.

“Turn around!” she ordered.

So, I obediently turned around. I heard rustling noise behind me—it turned out that Huang Xiaotao was kneeling on the driver’s seat and her breasts were softly pressing on my back. I felt all the blood in my body rush up to my head in that instant.

She then proceeded to massage my shoulders, but I felt nothing there at all. It seemed that my whole body’s senses were focused on the back, where I couldn’t help but notice the soft peaks that were pressing against my skin.

After a while, she leaned over and her hair swept over my neck. She whispered to me, “Did that feel good?”

“Y-Yes,” I managed to blurt out.

Huang Xiaotao sat back in her seat, put on her jacket, and said, “Ah, I feel refreshed now!”

Then she looked into the rearview mirror and asked, “Do you think I’d look good with long hair?”

“I-Isn’t long hair harder to take care of?” I replied in stammers.

“Hmm, you’re right.” Then she turned to me and said, “Why is your face so red, Song Yang? What would Dali think I’d done to you when he comes back and sees you like that?”

“…”

Suddenly, I felt her warm breath brushing my cheek. I turned around and was shocked to find her face inches away from me. I jerked backwards and pinned my back to the car door.

“What-what-what are you trying to do?!”

“What-what-what am I trying to do?” Huang Xiaotao mocked me. Then she smiled wickedly and said, “Please! You’re a man, you know! How could you be so shy?”

“But what are you trying to do?” I asked again nervously. Her face was still very close to mine, and I could clearly feel her every breath on my face.

“I noticed something about your eyes, Song Yang,” she stated seriously. “They don’t look like normal eyes at all.”

Even though I usually conserve my Cave Vision, if you looked at my eyes closely, you would see that my pupils were made up of three layers!

Huang Xiaotao kept inching closer and closer to me, and I was basically plastered to the car door trying to move away from her. My heartbeat accelerated quickly and my breathing became shallow and rapid.

Seconds later, Huang Xiaotao laughed and sat back in her seat. “I’m done teasing you. It’s so much fun to watch you get so nervous!”

I could clearly hear the sound of my heart beating in the quiet car. But as time went on, I noticed that it was not just my heart that was beating like a drum—there was the sound of another heart beating too!

I examined Huang Xiaotao’s behavior. Although her expressions were calm, her fingers were constantly fiddling with the air conditioner knob. Her micro-expressions betrayed her true emotions—she was definitely just as nervous as I was!