Chapter 110: The Queen Ant

After hearing everything, I asked, "My eyes can see through all lies. So why didn't you slip up in front of me that day? Were you professionally trained?"

Jin Baoshan chuckled, "Detective, that was your carelessness. Honestly, staring into your eyes made me really nervous. If you had asked me right then, 'Are you the killer?' I probably would have cracked."

I realized my mistake. It wasn't just me—neither Huang Xiaotao nor Wang Yuanchao expected the murderer to be on the seller's side.

Cases related to real estate usually involve greed and profit. Who would have thought the motive was revenge? We were all misled by our assumptions.

Huang Xiaotao asked, "So Ren Facai was your accomplice?"

Jin Baoshan took a drag from his cigarette and said, "No, no, I didn't even know him before. He's just a thug who bought the house cheap from me. I figured that was fine—he'd distract the police."

Huang Xiaotao scoffed, "A 3 million yuan house sold for only 500,000? You must be loaded. Tell us your success story!"

Jin Baoshan's answer stunned us all. "That house is only worth 500,000."

"What?" We all gasped.

...

...

"I was just sitting there, wearing the three-foot-tall hat, waiting for the knife to come down. That house was really haunted—no one dared live there! I listed it at 3 million but never intended to sell it at that price. Sure, I paid a 20,000 yuan penalty—that was several months of my wages," he explained.

I thought to myself, this guy's devious. Luckily, his goal was revenge, not random killing. Otherwise, a high-IQ criminal like this could have caused chaos.

Huang Xiaotao pulled out handcuffs and tossed them to him. "Put these on yourself."

Jin Baoshan sneered, "I don't want to go to jail."

"That's not up to you." Huang Xiaotao's almond eyes glared fiercely.

"You've been talking all this time. Didn't you notice what's behind you?" Jin Baoshan said calmly as he crushed out his cigarette.

We turned and saw a tide of bullet ants crawling out from the cracks between the furniture, completely surrounding us. Jin Baoshan flipped his palm, revealing a small glass vial holding a huge ant — swollen like a silkworm. That was the queen ant.

He gave a sinister laugh and crushed the vial in his hand, blood running through his fingers as the queen ant was smashed to bits.

In its death throes, the queen ant released a powerful distress signal. Bullet ants from all directions scrambled toward us like mad. Huang Xiaotao cried out, "Killing the queen means you'll die too!"

"Doesn't matter. A few of you can join me in death, and having a beautiful police officer along makes it worth it," Jin Baoshan said without regret.

"You're dreaming. Do you think we came unprepared?" I said, pulling a small black claw from my collar. All four of us wore these — our talismans.

Jin Baoshan noticed it too. The bullet ants on the ground avoided us and he was shocked, "What is that?"

"A pangolin claw. It's nature's counter to ants. With this, they won't dare touch us."

Ordinary people can't get this easily. Luckily, Huang Xiaotao knew an old detective who recently confiscated a truckload of pangolins smuggled from the mountains. It's said tomb raiders carry it because when digging holes, it's easy to break into ant nests — wearing the claw keeps ants away.

We had an extra one for Jin Baoshan. Wang Yuanchao forced it onto him and cuffed his hands.

Jin Baoshan deflated instantly. Hanging his head, he said, "No wonder you're a young detective. Jin's beaten, and I admit it!"

Wang Dali cheered, "Great, we caught the killer without a fight. Time for late-night snacks!"

I called out, "Wait! Don't open the door yet. There are still residents outside."

We quickly called pest control to clean up the scene. While waiting on the sofa, the sight was terrifying — bullet ants writhing all over the floor but refusing to approach us.

If these got out, they'd harm people and cause invasive species damage. South City's wildlife could be wiped out. Though they're innocent lives, we had to exterminate them.

The pest control arrived and sprayed the ants away. Huang Xiaotao paid and arranged for them to come tomorrow to exterminate the ants in the killer's old house.

With the real culprit caught, I finally exhaled. Huang Xiaotao spent two days handling the aftermath. Then we went to the old house together.

In the living room, I burned three stacks of joss paper and recited a prayer for the departed family of three, hoping they'd find peace. Huang Xiaotao asked, "Does that really work?"

"Whether it does or not, it's the thought that counts," I replied.

As we left, Huang Xiaotao eyed the house. "Ren Facai's money wasn't clean either. The house is confiscated now. Maybe we should buy it? I heard the subway's coming in two years — property prices will soar. What do you think?"

I shook my head, "Better not. Several owners had the same idea, but it always ended up rotting in their hands. Aren't you afraid of repeating history? Wait—what do you mean 'we' buy it?"

Huang Xiaotao blushed and stammered, "I was just saying. Why do you have to be so serious?"

We stared at the house for a long time. This was the second time Huang Xiaotao and I faced life and death together. Suddenly, the risk of our job hit me. Maybe one day, we'd truly part forever.

Almost simultaneously, we both spoke, "That..."

"Right..."

"You go first!"

"No, you."

I mustered my courage, grabbed Huang Xiaotao's shoulder. Her cheeks flushed as she looked at me, eyes sparkling. In the sunset, her face was especially enchanting.

I leaned in. Huang Xiaotao closed her eyes expectantly. Suddenly, a Maserati blared music as it sped past.

My courage vanished.

The car stopped nearby, and two people got out — Ye Shiwen and Zhang Yan. And shockingly, they were holding hands! Those two actually got together.

Ye Shiwen called out, "Song Yang, what are you doing here? What a coincidence."

I scratched my head awkwardly, "Yeah, yeah."

Zhang Yan gushed, "Is this police officer your girlfriend? So pretty — like a model."

"She's not his girlfriend!" Huang Xiaotao snapped and walked off. I couldn't stop them even if I called.

I thought, those two troublemakers, why now?

Ye Shiwen patted my shoulder, "Hope we're not interrupting. Come on, brother, dinner's on me. You can tell us about the case."

Zhang Yan nodded eagerly, "Yeah, yeah! It's in the papers. Who'd have thought our university produced a detective? I'm so excited! I want your autograph later!"

I was full of frustration but forced a polite smile, thinking, "Why don't you two just disappear?"

Some things are better left unsaid. I never imagined that just weeks later, our school would become the scene of a bizarre and eerie case...