Fourth Master Gu

"Whoa, ask and you shall receive!" Wang Zikai rolled up his sleeves and headed for the door. "Watch me beat it to death!"

"Wait..." Gaoyang grabbed Wang Zikai and clamped a hand over his mouth.

Not daring to make a sound, Pang Jun hurried behind Qingling. At a gesture from Officer Huang, everyone immediately took cover on either side of the front door, pressing themselves against the walls.

Officer Huang drew his pistol, aimed at the door, and called out, "Who is it?"

"I was wondering why there was a light in this house. So it's you, Officer Huang." An old man's voice came from outside.

Gaoyang recognized it: the old man who had been herding geese that afternoon. He gave Officer Huang a look, signaling that it was safe. Officer Huang tucked his gun back into his waistband and went to open the door.

Sure enough, the man outside was the old goose herder from that afternoon. Everyone in the village called him Fourth Master Gu. A pipe dangled from his shriveled lips, and his face creased all over when he smiled. "Oh, you're all here. Investigating the case?"

Officer Huang gave a faint smile. "Yes. We were worried we might have missed a clue, so we came back to take another look."

"You police officers sure work hard, putting in overtime this late." The old man took his pipe from his mouth and scratched his back. "When I saw the light in here just now, I thought I'd seen a ghost."

"Then why did you dare come knock on the door? Aren't you afraid of ghosts?" Wang Zikai challenged him. For once, his objection was actually on point; Gaoyang had been about to ask the same thing.

"Heh." The old man smiled easily. "No. I was close to Hua Zi's family. Even as ghosts, they wouldn't hurt me."

"I see." Officer Huang focused, an idea taking shape in his mind. "Fourth Master Gu, would you mind telling me about Hua Zi's family?"

"Sure, but this isn't a good place to talk. My house is right over there. Why don't you come sit for a while?" Fourth Master Gu said.

"Sorry for the trouble."

Five minutes later, the five of them arrived at Fourth Master Gu's house. He lived alone, and his earthen house was much smaller than Hua Zi's family home. It backed onto the mountain and had a large enclosed yard, with geese out back honking from time to time.

Everyone sat around the table. Fourth Master Gu made tea, but no one drank it.

Fourth Master Gu didn't mind. Smoking his pipe, he began rambling. "Hua Zi's father was a real honest man, hardworking too. Shame he had a stutter. No one wanted him, and he was nearly forty before he found a wife. She came from the next village. Had a bit of trouble with her legs, but everything else about her was fine.

"They settled down and had three big, healthy boys. Their mother passed away a few years after the youngest was born. Their father couldn't feed three sons by farming, so he had to go away for work and send money home every year. He asked me to look after them. Hua Zi and his two younger brothers were always coming over for meals. I raised them like my own grandsons..."

The others listened quietly until he finished. Then Officer Huang asked, "Fourth Master Gu, do you think the killer could be someone from the village?"

Fourth Master Gu paused, then gave a knowing smile. "Officer Huang, I won't be legally responsible for anything I say, will I? I don't know anything about the law..."

"No. We're just chatting. Tell us whatever you know."

Fourth Master Gu nodded. "Then I'll say it. I reckon the killer must be someone from our village."

"Why?"

"Several families here keep dogs. Even leaving the dogs aside, my dozens of geese honk whenever a stranger passes the house."

"Hua Zi's family was dismembered, and the bodies were scattered everywhere. Someone from outside the village couldn't have done that without alerting the dogs," Gaoyang said.

"Exactly." Fourth Master Gu glanced at Gaoyang. "You're a sharp young fellow."

"Then," Officer Huang pressed, "who in the village do you think might have had a motive?"

"That I really don't know." Fourth Master Gu took a sip of tea. "That family was known for being honest, decent folk. The three boys were sensible too. I never saw them lose their temper with anyone. How much hatred would it take to cut up their whole family like that?"

"Could it have had something to do with the bride?" Officer Huang shifted tack.

"Hmm..." Fourth Master Gu fell into thought. "That seems possible. They still haven't found Hua Zi's wife's head, have they? Maybe she was the target. Besides, it happened on the very day she married into the family. How could that be a coincidence?"

"Did you see the bride?" Officer Huang asked.

"They brought her in on a big bridal sedan chair. I caught a glimpse when she stepped out. Oh, she was a beauty."

Fourth Master Gu glanced at Qingling. "Just like you. Fresh-faced and pretty, with a head of jet-black hair, like a fairy descended from heaven... Everyone was green with envy, wondering how much good Hua Zi had done in his past life to earn such good fortune."

"I've got it!" Wang Zikai slapped the table, startling everyone. "Guys, have you seen Hail the Judge?"

"Yes," Pang Jun said meekly. "You mean... Chang Wei did it?"

"Exactly! Some pervert in the village must have gotten lustful when he saw the bride and set his sights on her. He went there in the middle of the night to rape her, but got caught, so he killed the whole family in a fit of rage..."

"But he wouldn't need to dismember them," Pang Jun muttered.

"Hah! That's where you don't get it, little bro. Let me break it down for you!" Wang Zikai stroked his chin, putting on a mysterious air. Gaoyang felt as if the Detective Conan theme music would start playing any second.

"It's called doing the opposite of what people expect! Who would imagine that someone who only went there to rape a woman would kill an entire family and dismember them? The police wouldn't even consider that angle. Doesn't that get him off the hook perfectly?"

Gaoyang paused, actually finding a little sense in Wang Zikai's nonsense. But on closer thought, it didn't hold up at all. Dismembering an entire family just because lust had gone to his head was far too much effort. Besides, there were no signs of a struggle or resistance inside Hua Zi's house. It had happened in the yard.

Pang Jun thought for a long while, then shook his head. "Bro Kai, I still don't think that's right... If you were that pervert, would you do something like that?"

"You're the pervert! Your whole family's full of perverts!" Wang Zikai snapped. "How could a pervert's mind work the same way as a normal person's?"

"Your mind works in pretty strange ways too, Bro Kai. If even you wouldn't do it, I don't think a pervert would..."

"What did you say, you fat bastard? Say that again if you've got the guts!"

"I may be fat, but don't curse me to die. That's bad luck, especially this late at night..."

The two idiots started bickering, and Gaoyang's head began to ache again. Suddenly, he noticed that Officer Huang and Qingling looked grim. Cold killing intent flickered in their eyes as they stared fixedly at Fourth Master Gu across the table.

Gaoyang glanced sideways, and his blood instantly ran cold!

Fourth Master Gu was drinking his tea as though nothing were wrong, but translucent, scale-like plates had quietly begun growing on his arms. The rough, wrinkled backs of his hands were gradually taking on the pattern of lizard skin, their texture turning wet and slick. His fingernails lengthened bit by bit until they became grayish-brown claws two centimeters long.

Then came Fourth Master Gu's eyes. The whites slowly turned yellow, flecked with tiny markings, while some invisible force squeezed the black pupils from both sides into narrow slits. Within seconds, his human eyes had become lizard eyes, like two cold, finely crafted glass marbles.

At that very moment, parts of Fourth Master Gu's body were undergoing "beastification," right in front of four Awakened and one Lost Beast.

But Fourth Master Gu didn't attack. He simply stayed seated, leisurely sipping his tea.