Seeing Mr. Niu's nonchalant attitude, Zhou Zhiheng skipped the nonsense and held up five fingers: “We can offer this much—five thousand. If you can provide useful leads, we'll give you more.”
Mr. Niu's eyebrows shot up as he skillfully pulled out a payment QR code, saying with righteous indignation, “I'll bring Xiaohui over right away. To bring a vicious supernatural creature to justice as soon as possible, every citizen has an unshakable duty to cooperate fully. Although Xiaohui isn't in a good state, she won't mind. After all, this counts as indirect revenge for her mother.”
“You really are a great father...” Zhong Mo mocked him with a snide, cold remark.
Mr. Niu acted as if he hadn't heard. He stood up, pulled open the door to the second bedroom, and dragged out a young girl.
To everyone's surprise, Niu Xiaohui's room was exceptionally clean and tidy, emitting an indescribable faint fragrance. However, the scent was quickly overwhelmed by the stench in the living room.
She wore a pale yellow dress and kept her head bowed. Her exposed skin was excessively pale, and she seemed as lifeless as a puppet.
Zhou Zhiheng approached her, putting on a friendly smile and softening his voice to a gentle, higher pitch. “Little sister, can you tell me what exactly happened ‘that day’?”
Niu Xiaohui remained motionless, acting as if she hadn't heard a thing.
Zhou Zhiheng looked at Mr. Niu in confusion. The man shrugged. “The child has been like this. Even when people from the Investigation Bureau came, they couldn't get her to say anything. If you have the ability to make Xiaohui speak, then I'll be impressed. But regardless of the result, I'm not giving back the money.”
These words made Zhou Zhiheng frown deeply. Seeing this, Bai Qingyu stepped forward. “Maybe you just look too fierce, making it hard for the child to lower her guard. Let me try.”
Zhou Zhiheng thought she had a point, so he took a step aside and yielded his position.
Bai Qingyu's lips curved into a sincere arc, and her voice was soft. The overall effect was indeed better, radiating approachability. Unfortunately, as soon as she spoke, the others nearly fainted from her lack of tact.
“Little sister, can you tell me what you saw ‘that day’? How did your mother die?”
As soon as she finished, several judgmental glares were cast toward Bai Qingyu.
“What?” she asked, looking baffled.
“You... asked too directly. Don't trigger the child,” Zhao Lin reminded her tactfully.
Bai Qingyu seemed completely unaware of how low her EQ was, even repeating herself: “Little sister, can you recount how your mother died?”
Niu Xiaohui still didn't move, showing no reaction whatsoever.
Zhou Zhiheng rubbed the bridge of his nose awkwardly. A group of adults surrounding a child gave off the uncomfortable vibe of a bunch of bullies.
“Since that incident, Xiaohui has not spoken a word. The Investigation Bureau arranged psychological intervention for a while, and you've seen the results,” Mr. Niu said, his face full of helplessness.
Zhou Zhiheng sized him up. With such an unreliable father, it was indeed difficult for the girl to move past the trauma and return to normal.
“We can't get anything out of her. What should we do next?” Bai Qingyu looked at Yue Shi and Zhong Mo. “Do you two transcendents... have any ideas?”
Zhong Mo shook his head immediately. Currently, his abilities were focused on physical damage and defense, not involving mental or memory aspects.
Yue Shi also shook his head. Raven's Secret Whispers should be able to help, but that was his little secret. He didn't intend to reveal his possession of a third supernatural power in front of everyone for the time being.
Unable to obtain useful information from Niu Xiaohui, Zhou Zhiheng had no choice but to switch targets and question her father.
Mr. Niu was an open book and very cooperative, telling them everything he knew, but he still failed to provide any new leads.
“Stop wasting time. The Investigation Bureau must have questioned him repeatedly. The information the company got from the Bureau is comprehensive enough; there won't be any omissions.” Bai Qingyu covered her nose and mouth, sniffing the scent of her hand cream, desperate to leave this filthy, stinking room.
Zhou Zhiheng ignored her and continued at his own pace, carefully analyzing every word Mr. Niu said. What if the Bureau had overlooked some details?
The devil could be hidden in the details!
—Clearly, he failed.
With almost no gains from this trip, Zhou Zhiheng sighed and prepared to lead the group away.
Bai Qingyu was the first to open the door and stand in the hallway. The air, which had a slightly damp and musty smell, actually seemed fresh at this moment.
Zhong Mo followed closely behind, but just as he stepped outside, he suddenly seemed to sense something and whipped his head back!
Startled by his movement, the others instinctively looked back as well. They happened to witness Niu Xiaohui, who had been hanging her head, looking up at some point. She was staring fixedly at Zhong Mo with a bizarre gaze.
That look was hard to describe—there was a hint of the uncanny valley effect, a touch of something non-human, and a mix of greed and longing. She didn't look like a six-year-old girl at all.
Seeing everyone looking at her, she immediately lowered her head, returning to her numb and silent state.
“Could she be contaminated by the supernatural?” Zhao Lin blurted out, startled. He quickened his pace and hid behind Yue Shi.
The others also became instantly alert and quickly left the room.
“Don't you go talking nonsense!” Mr. Niu immediately countered. “After my ex-wife was murdered, Xiaohui underwent a thorough examination by the Investigation Bureau. There's nothing wrong with her. All her indicators are normal.”
“Really?” Zhao Lin didn't quite trust the test results. What happened with Cai Zetao yesterday was still fresh in his mind; he had almost fooled the instruments at the isolation center!
Mr. Niu snorted coldly. “Believe it or not! I'm warning you, Xiaohui is an important witness in the Heart Thief case and is under the protection of the Investigation Bureau. There might be people watching this place in secret right now! Don't do anything reckless, and don't talk nonsense. If you dare slander my daughter without evidence, believe me, I'll file a complaint!”
Zhao Lin pointed the supernatural detector at Niu Xiaohui without a word, but it didn't detect any abnormalities.
Mr. Niu forcefully kicked them all out and slammed the door shut with a bang.
Zhou Zhiheng wasn't angry; instead, he looked quite excited. “This might be a new lead!”
“Any progress in the investigation is a good thing. We can follow this lead and get to the bottom of it!”
Bai Qingyu had been the first to leave the room and was busy breathing fresh air, so she hadn't witnessed Niu Xiaohui's change in expression.
She questioned Zhao Lin in a low voice, but from his description, she couldn't grasp Niu Xiaohui's abnormality. She stated bluntly, “People with psychological illnesses inevitably exhibit some behavior that differs from ordinary people. This doesn't prove anything. We shouldn't jump to conclusions.”
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