Yue Yifan nodded in response. "I realized the truth about two months ago. I didn't visit Liu Peipei directly because the mess would be extremely unpleasant and I didn't want to embarrass myself publicly. I engaged a property agency in Jinxiu Community to rent out that house previously, so I went ahead and checked on her tenancy agreement. After realizing that her contract would end three months later, I told my agent that I would rent that house to someone else instead of renewing Liu Peipei's tenancy agreement. Just in case Liu Peipei demanded to know the reason, I instructed my agent to convey my message that I would never rent that house to her. That way, she would understand the meaning behind this."

"The property agent in charge of your property rental is Fan Yansong?" asked Zou Chengwei.

​​

Yue Yifan was taken by surprise. "Yes. How did you know?"

"Please continue," said Zou Chengwei while ignoring her question.

Curiosity gnawed at Yue Yifan but she continued nonetheless. "Sure enough, Liu Peipei understood the situation and started demanding Yu Chaosheng to divorce me. Yu Chaosheng was so afraid after realizing that I became aware of his affair, but divorce was an impossible solution for him. He wasn't stupid. He knew Liu Peipei merely wanted his money and would definitely run away when something bad happened, so there was no way he would live the rest of his life with Liu Peipei. He promised that he would break up with Liu Peipei and wouldn't rent the house to her any longer, but I couldn't chase her out of that house either due to the tenancy agreement. That was when I started urging Fan Yansong to arrange frequent site viewing. I passed my keys to Fan Yansong and gave him my word that it was alright for him to bring clients for site viewing without considering whether Liu Peipei was at home or not. It was simply her misfortune if she lost some valuables. Besides, most of those valuables were bought by my husband. Those were my money even if she lost them."

Jiang Yuecheng nodded toward Zou Chengwei, who went to the interrogation room afterward.

Feng Songwei brought her team back to the police station after a while. "Sergeant Yang, we found a blood-stained barbeque skewer in Fan Yansong's house. The blood sample extracted indicates that the bloodstain belongs to both Cao Keya and Liu Peipei."

"Do you want to confess? We'll find more evidence," said Yang Shaoqun coldly.

Fan Yansong started slamming his handcuffed fists onto the table unexpectedly. The handcuffs knocking on the table produced loud rattling sounds while cutting his wrists, causing blood to flow through the exposed wounds and splatter onto the table.

"Hey, behave yourself!" Zhang Shanfei subdued Fan Yansong immediately and handcuffed both of his wrists onto the chair so that he could not attempt to express his agitation. "Confess to us honestly!"

"Go ahead and find evidence if you're so smart! What do you want me to confess without any evidence? What, your evidence is just a barbeque skewer? Well, the murderer planted it in my house so that I would become the scapegoat! Is my fingerprint on the barbeque skewer? Any DNA on it that belongs to me? You found it in my house, does that mean it belongs to me?"

Someone knocked on the door to the interrogation room right at that moment. Zhang Shanfei gave a warning glare at Fan Yansong before answering the door and saw Qi Youxuan standing at the doorstep.

Zhang Shanfei quickly invited Qi Youxuan to enter the room while he stepped backward and offered his seat to Qi Youxuan.

Qi Youxuan sat opposite Fan Yansong and observed him silently for a while before saying, "You're nervous."

Fan Yansong was stunned briefly before mocking, "I'm nervous? Why do I need to feel nervous? I didn't murder anyone. Don't even think about pinning the crime on me in order to solve the case earlier."

Qi Youxuan said calmly, "You're nervous. Your pupils enlarged instantly when I mentioned that you're nervous. You tried to emphasize that you weren't nervous again by raising your voice, thinking that it's a display of innocence but in fact, it's the other way around. When you said that you didn't murder anyone, your eyes were shifted upward and to the right, exactly like how a person who tells lies will react."

"When you were slamming the table just now, your legs were moved toward the door subconsciously because deep down, you had an intense desire to escape. Your feet are pointing toward the door even at this moment. You're afraid. You want to escape from this place."

Fan Yansong's first reaction was to look at his feet and shift their position afterward, taking extreme vigilance not to perform these subconscious acts any further.

He clenched his fists tightly and pursed his lips firmly out of anxiety. He averted his gaze and tried to avoid direct eye contact so that Qi Youxuan could no longer read anything from his expressions.

Qi Youxuan did not mind his gaze aversion and continued, "You had a girlfriend once, but she acted just like the three victims who betrayed her husband or boyfriend and became mistresses to those married elderly men just for money. Your girlfriend hurt you deeply, and you were very depressed at that moment. You felt like everyone was laughing at your misery and your colleagues' gazes were sympathizing with you. You assumed that their thoughts conveyed messages that you were useless after your girlfriend cheated on you. Your family blamed you for finding a terrible spouse and reprimanded your ex-girlfriend in your presence repeatedly. Their constant reminders for you to search for a better spouse carefully annoyed you immensely."

"You couldn't even continue your stay in B City anymore. You consulted a psychologist afterward, who suggested you change a new environment, forget the past and start with a clean slate. That was the reason why you came to T City. Your profession compelled you to meet with people of all kinds and acknowledge various gossip and secrets. When you were getting along with those aunties in the communities, you overheard their discussions about the three victims' private lives. That brought back your sad memories."

"You recalled your girlfriend's betrayal, the mocks from those around you, and the complaints your family had against you. Everything that happened before this started troubling you again and they fuelled your anger. That was the time when the bloodlust emerged in your mind. You assumed that your mentality would recover with their deaths," said Qi Youxuan while staring at Fan Yansong's expression which was getting unnatural.

Qi Youxuan added. "Thus, you slaughtered all three of them. Xiong Shishi's death gave you slight comfort but failed to calm your rage. You thought that her death was too simple and direct, and a lustful lady like her without any sense of loyalty doesn't deserve a quick death."

"Cao Keya's appearance gave you another chance. Since Xiong Shishi's death exhilarated you, you assumed that this was a good method to vent your rage. Only their deaths would end your suffering, enlighten your mood, and return you to normality. You were so happy that you finally found a solution. You learned from your mistake from Xiong Shishi's death, so when it was Cao Keya's turn, you tortured her with a barbeque skewer before ending her life. You experienced the pleasure of torturing the victim in different ways, so when it was Liu Peipei's turn, you shaved her head and pierced her body with a barbeque skewer before taking her life."

Qi Youxuan's words reconstructed the scenes and events in Fan Yansong's mind. Qi Youxuan even reenacted Fan Yansong's girlfriend's betrayal as if he had witnessed this tragedy with his own eyes.

Fan Yansong's mind started wandering down the memory lane. Every scene—the gazes and attitudes from his relatives, friends, and colleagues, and the complaints, consolations, and warnings from his parents in B City—reemerged in his brain and floated past his mind like a movie on fast-forward.

Fan Yansong wore a puzzled expression with a dull look on his face. His mind was still a surging perplexity as he failed to distinguish between memories and reality. He wanted to reach forward and slam his palms onto the table but was unable to do so when his wrists were handcuffed to the back of the chair and produced loud rattling sounds during the process.

The trip down memory lane gave Fan Yansong intense agony, but his upper limbs were restrained and prevented him from venting his rage. Thus, he went as far as summoning all his strength and rammed his forehead onto the table forcefully. Those in the room could actually feel the vibration that traveled along the floor too.

Zhang Shanfei immediately pressed his arm on Fan Yansong's chest and forced him to lean against the chair. After struggling for a few moments, Fan Yansong finally regained his cool.

"I detest them so much! Do they ever think of the potential harm they'll cause others when they've decided to become mistresses? The damage that they'll cause to the involved families? The sufferings that they bring on their husbands or boyfriends? Can't they work harder to earn better paychecks? Why must they choose to go down such a wicked path? They hurt so many people just for their own benefits! How many families have broken apart because of such wretched women? Do they ever think about those whom they harmed or betrayed?" yelled the agitated Fan Yansong.

"I was exterminating the vermins! The legal wives will no longer be kept in the dark after killing the mistresses. They will realize their husbands' true colors and can choose to continue the rest of their lives happily or demand a divorce. That way, the mistresses' boyfriends will realize their true unfaithful personalities earlier without becoming a father whose child doesn't even belong to him! Those three women didn't deserve to live at all! They will tear apart many other families in the future if they're still alive!

"What's wrong with me exterminating pests? There wasn't the slightest regret at all when I killed them! If you guys failed to arrest me, I'll definitely continue annihilating these vermins! I can finally feel at ease when these shameless women are eradicated from this world."

"You mentioned that you've consulted a psychologist. Did you know that your mental disease had relapsed?" asked Qi Youxuan calmly.

Fan Yansong clenched his teeth tightly. He knew the truth but was reluctant to admit it.

"You knew it, didn't you? After realizing Xiong Shishi's true colors, you detected something wrong within you immediately. The agony when your girlfriend betrayed you initially gnawed at you again. You almost considered Xiong Shishi as your girlfriend and wanted to question her, but your remaining rationality compelled you to resist your urge," said Qi Youxuan.